Lasting Love
by wickedworkings
Summary: Post 7; Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.
1. A Proper Homecoming

**LASTING LOVE**:  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls _does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**ONE: A Proper Homecoming**

Stars Hollow. It was almost too breathtaking to take in at once. Preliminary decorations for the annual Founders Firelight Festival were being set up and it was, unarguably, one of Taylor's best set-ups so far. Rows of booths were being set up while the gazebo was draped in warm colors that resembled a sunset. The bonfire was in mid-assembly, with Kirk dictating over several frustrated high school volunteers with heavy chunks of wood in their arms.

Rory had forgotten that feeling of small town comfort and hospitality after months of following on the campaign trail. Late night check-ins at unfamiliar hotels in bustling cities took its toll on her and, after a while, all she wanted was a long, deep sleep in her own bed if she could even remember what that felt like. But as Rory drove into Stars Hollow at the prescribed 5 miles an hour speed limit, all of those sensations started to fill her up once more.

She chose the perfect time to arrive. From what her mother told her in their last email, the festival wouldn't start until six in the afternoon, two hours away. By now, the entire town was in full swing and no one would notice her small, if unfamiliar, Prius pulling into the town square. Even Ms. Patty, who was standing at the street corner with a brigade of ribbon-holding girls, didn't notice her as she drove by.

At first, she decided that she would go home and surprise her mother and Luke if he was there, too. But after remembering her love for Stars Hollow events and the surprises that came with them, she realized surprising Lorelai Gilmore, the lover of all things fun, would be the best way to go. So she would go surprise Lane instead.

Rory parked her car a few yards away from Lane's front door. She pulled out her Blackberry from the glove compartment and flipped through her messages until she arrived at Lane's most recent one. Thankfully, they were only starting to pack up; they wouldn't be moving for another week.

"Here goes nothing," Rory muttered to herself as she left her car and walked to the front door. She rapped on the wood with her knuckles.

At first there was no response. She figured that they didn't hear her. She tried again.

This time: "Hold up! If it's you, Brian, you know where the keys are!" Lane sounded busy, but Rory was sure she wouldn't mind.

"Well, I'm not Brian, so I don't know where the keys are. Open the door!"

The door flung wide open within a matter of seconds. Lane stood in front of Rory, or rather, several inches shorter than her. She looked particularly distressed, with her glasses askew on her nose and her blouse wrinkled and covered in what appeared to be large formula stains. But as soon as she saw her oldest and best friend standing in the doorway, her entire expression illuminated and quickly changed into one of disbelief.

"Rory? Oh my god, I can't believe you're here!" She squealed again and gave Rory a tight hug. "What're you doing here? I mean, come inside first!"

Realizing that she was still dressed in the clothes she was wearing when she left, Rory immediately took off her beige coat and kicked aside her heels so her feet could breathe. The familiar living room she stepped in lacked any furniture; instead, piles of labeled boxes covered the entire floor, leaving the kitchen the only exposed area.

"Sorry, it's kind of a mess, but you already know why," Lane said, the excitement in her voice reaching new heights. "But why – I mean, you didn't tell me you were coming home! What gives?"

"Long story, but I guess you could say that I just missed Stars Hollow," Rory replied truthfully. She propped herself up on the kitchen counter. "God, I've missed you guys."

"Tell me about it." Lane sat next to Rory after pushing aside a plate of stale crackers. "Everything here has been the same, if you could imagine, but people never forget to mention the illustrious Rory Gilmore once in a while."

"It's nice to know that I still have my groupies. You looked completely wiped. Moving isn't so easy, huh?"

"It's a lot easier than having to chase around two toddlers that are just learning to walk," Lane said, clearly exhausted. "Let me tell you, kids and moving boxes – not such a great combination."

"Oh, where are the munchkins?" Rory looked around the room as if expecting to see them stumble out from behind the boxes.

"Don't say munchkins," Lane warned her. "Kirk calls them that and it freaks them out every time. And Zach put them to sleep earlier so that we could take them to the festival later tonight. Hey! You're going, right?"

"That's the plan. I hope you don't mind me staying here until the festival. I don't want my mom to know that I'm back just yet. It's a surprise."

"It's okay," Lane reassured her. "Plus you still have to tell me why you're back. Aren't you supposed to be out there, in the real world, writing about real things and real people and other really boring stuff?"

"In a nutshell, yeah, but I don't know. I got tired. Like I said, it's a really long story and all that matters is that I'm back home in Stars Hollow. I've missed this place and I've been gone too long."

"Understandable," Lane said, nodding. "Things here – actually, things here you probably already know about because of Lorelai, huh? Well, for me, my life has been comprised of diaper changing, the exciting change from a breast pump to formula, and an incredible lack of band practice."

"Exciting," Rory sympathized. "Hey, speaking of band practice, where's Brian going to live once you guys move out?"

"He's moving in with his aunt outside Stars Hollow," Lane explained. "We're going to resurrect Hep Alien in a very big way once Steve and Kwan are big enough to take on tour. But until then, Brian has enough to keep himself busy; he has a girlfriend, you know."

"Wow, a lot has changed then." Rory laughed a bit and Lane couldn't help but join her.

"Well, it's almost time to get out of here. Now I just have to wake my three guys up."

"Three?" Rory asked.

"Zach's taking a nap, too," Lane reminded her.

* * *

Rory looked around the town square. The bonfire had been lit as soon as the sun disappeared behind the New England hills off in the distance. Now, she could feel the warmth of the fire embracing her as it crackled, sending embers dancing up into the sky. She took another sip from the red plastic cup in her hand. The contents – another one of Ms. Patty's famed concoctions – abruptly cleared her sinuses.

"Hey, kiddo. Played any games yet?"

Rory looked over her shoulder. Her mother, Lorelai, stood at her side with a similar cup in her hand. Even in the starlight and the soft glow from the fire, the physical similarities between the two were unmistakable; both of them had the same cascading brown hair that framed their faces perfectly to showcase their clear blue eyes.

"No. I think I might be too old for games." Rory dumped the contents of her cup onto the grass beneath her feet, almost expecting a small sizzle.

"Aw, sad," Lorelai said, faking a pout. "Not even Al's 'Make an International Sandwich" booth? Because let me tell you, I make a mean pancake and hummus sandwich."

"Ew," Rory said. "I might try that out later. I'm a bit tired from helping Lane and Zach carry Steve and Kwan around. You didn't tell me that they got that big."

"I sent you pictures," Lorelai said defensively. "A lot happens in a year."

Rory nodded. "I know. Where's Luke?"

"Back at the house cooking."

"Cooking? At our house? On _our_ stove?"

"The 'mom never cooked' joke is getting old, sweet daughter of mine," Lorelai said. "Plus, we're going to need some proper sustenance once we're through with all of this festival food."

"So burgers?"

"And chilli fries!" Lorelai added eagerly.

"Mmm, a proper homecoming meal." Rory gazed across the town square, watching several townies, like Babette and Morey, walk hand-in-hand past the gazebo.

After a few moments of silence, Lorelai finally broke with the question she asked earlier and the question that she was not going to let go of until it was properly answered.

"Ready to tell me yet why you're back home?"

Rory frowned and sighed. "Mom, I already told you everything there was to tell. The job got boring…tiring. A year off was a year too soon."

"Honey, I know you _loved_ that job. It was the first real reporting that you got to do. Using the same excuse isn't going to fly here, especially if you're going to be using _my _house as your hiding place."

"What makes you think I'm hiding?"

"Because you've got that same look on your face when you hide from your grandmother."

Rory gasped. "Hey, I was six, and you told me that she was a witch with six eyes and fangs."

"Well, did I ever lie to you?"

Rory smiled. "Speaking of which, I should go visit Grandma and Grandpa now that I'm back. They'll want to know everything that's been going on."

"As if the postcards and phone calls weren't enough. And notice that 'I' is the operative word there."

Rory swayed to the side a bit and caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye. It was a familiar figure, and after closer observation, she realized that the head of mop-like brown hair and the tall body belonged to someone she hadn't seen too long ago.

"Mom…is that…?"

Lorelai looked over to where Rory was pointing and nodded.

"Yeah, that's Dean alright. He finally resurfaced from whatever caveman hole he's been hiding in. Looks good, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, good one there, Mom." Rory was distracted all of a sudden. "Hey, do you mind if I go home? I'm feeling kind of tired from the travel and…yeah, I'll just meet you at home." With that, Rory turned on her heel and scampered away, almost looking like she was running.

Lorelai stood there, confused. Something about Rory's sudden flighty attitude triggered something in her mind. She looked around for Dean again, but he was gone. She ran after her daughter.

"Rory! Get back here! You got some splaining to do!"

* * *

**AN:** I've really been working on this plot for a long time now and I've finally got it down to where I want it. Hopefully you liked it and, please, don't hesitate to give me some feedback. I want to know if it has the potential that I think it does. Thanks!


	2. Just Showed Up

**LASTING LOVE:  
**Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls_ does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**TWO: Just Showed Up**

Rory ran up the stairs outside the house and stood on the porch for a little while. She thought she heard her mother chase after her, but she lost her if she had been. The night was getting colder and she realized how she preferred the weather back in Stars Hollow. Spending nights in hotel rooms or on tour buses meant her coats and jackets were better used as pillows and blankets. It was nice to actually be able to _wear_ clothes for once.

Seeing Dean was completely unexpected; it was the last thing she would have even anticipated. Although she knew that Dean still lived in the area, she didn't know he lived close enough to still be able to go to the Firelight Festival. Then again, she didn't even know that he would be back at home so soon.

Hoping to deflect any questions her mom would have for her once she got home, Rory opened the door and walked in as soon as she could. When she closed the door, a familiar voice called to her from the kitchen.

"Your damn oven wouldn't cooperate, but after some convincing I got it to work!" Luke's gruff voice yelled.

Rory walked down the short hallway into the kitchen, her heels rapping against the wooden floors. Luke's surprise was apparent.

"Rory! When did you get here?" He dropped his spatula onto the stovetop and rushed over to give her what, in concept, would have been a hug. However, he backed away before leaning in again, ultimately deciding to give her an awkward pat on the back.

"Nice to see some things haven't changed," Rory commented, otherwise grateful to have Luke in her kitchen. "I've been home for a couple hours now, but I surprised Mom at the Firelight Festival. I see she made you stay and cook instead."

"It's not like I would have gone anyway," he said, flipping a patty of meat in the frying pan. "Live to serve, don't I?"

"Good man," Rory said. "Mom's on her way home, I think, and to save any further question-asking, I'm here to stay at home for a considerable amount of time."

"No question-asking here," Luke said. "Just pull up a chair and I'll get your food ready."

"I'm not hungry yet," Rory said. "I think I'm going to change first. I should have some pajamas that I can still fit into."

"You're going to change? Right there? In your room?"

"Relax, Luke. There's a door." She opened the door to her bedroom, stepped inside, and closed it again behind her.

The familiarity of being in her own bedroom cascaded over her. Although her bed seemed smaller compared to the many other beds she spent time in over the past year, it was the only bed that seemed right to her. She sat down on the edge and noticed herself in the vanity mirror sitting across from her.

She changed. Well, she knew that she had, but she didn't know that it would be so apparent in her appearance. Whereas she let her hair grow curly and long before graduating, it was now straighter and fell just above her shoulders, giving off a sense of professionalism and actual know-how. Thankfully, she looked exactly her age at twenty-three years old, twenty-four coming up in a matter of months. She often overlooked her eyes, although they were what people always noticed first. Now that she took a look at them, she realized that they were what kept her looking real, not stressed and stretched to her breaking point.

There was a knock on her door. Knowing well that Luke would never even have the courage to knock on her bedroom door told her that Lorelai was standing outside, prepared to enter without permission, prepared to ask her questions, prepared to ask her questions about Dean…

"Rory, I'm coming in," Lorelai warned. "And Luke said please don't be naked."

"I'm completely naked and just sitting on my bed," Rory replied.

"Coming in anyway." Lorelai walked in. Rory looked at her pleadingly and she took the hint to close the door afterwards. She sat down next to Rory on her bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Now, hon, you've got to tell me what that was all about. Did something happen between you and Dean? Is that why you're back?"

"How could Dean possibly have anything to do with me coming back home?" Rory asked wearily, longing to sleep.

"Well, I don't know!" Lorelai said defensively. "You come home with no warning and you expect me to let it slide by without asking any questions about why you left a job that had absolutely nothing wrong with it."

"You could _try_ doing that."

"Rory, I'm not trying to pick a fight here. I just want you to be able to tell me things. A year or no year, we've still kept in touch and not once did you ever mention that you wanted to come home. Now maybe I don't know why you left, but I know that what happened with Dean over there was not just my imagination."

"Just drop it," Rory pleaded, feeling increasingly uncomfortable next to her mother.

"I didn't even know that you were still seeing Dean."

"I'm not '_seeing_' Dean, and I'm definitely not seeing him in the way that I think you're implying."

"I'm not implying anything, Rory. You just need to understand that I'm a little bit confused."

"Then can we just drop it?" Rory stood up and leaned against the bedroom door. "I'm tired and I know that I just showed up, but I really want to be able to get some sleep."

Lorelai sighed. "Luke's making you a burger."

"Put it out on the table so I can just eat it for breakfast tomorrow."

"Gross," Lorelai remarked. Rory stepped aside to let her out the door. For a moment, it looked like she was going to say something, but she refrained and walked out instead. Rory closed the door again before suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over her.

* * *

Rory woke up two hours before noon the next morning, when Luke was already at the diner and her mom was at the inn. Lorelai left the burger out on the table per her request, with a small doodle on a Post-It beside it. The words "Sorry…Lunch at the inn?" were written beneath what appeared to be a repentant goat.

After unpacking her suitcase that she stored in the back of her car, she took a long and well-deserved shower. By the time it was eleven thirty, Rory made the decision that she would walk to the Dragonfly Inn, even though it was a five minute drive away. She hadn't taken a walk in the longest time, and she found that it would probably be the best way of reacquainting herself with the town.

Slipping out of professional clothes and into something more comfortable, Rory felt ready to face the day. She wanted to hit all of her usual spots, such as the book store, the diner, and Lane's house again before heading over for lunch. She figured that as "Lorelai Gilmore" to Steve and Kwan, she would have to bring some sort of gift over, which meant that she would have to go to the nearest gift-like shop, which was, incidentally, a Hello Kitty store.

It was a times like these, when Rory had time to think, when she missed her old friends and all the aspects of her collegiate life. As difficult as their friendship was, she missed Paris. During the past year, she would occasionally receive an email on her Blackberry from Paris informing her of the goings-on at Harvard Medical School. Apparently, Doyle had popped _the_ question, and she still had him in a waiting period of over two months.

As for Logan, Rory had absolutely no idea where he was or what he was up to. She regretted the way things ended, the abruptness of the matter, and the unceremoniously regarded ending to what she believed was _the_ relationship. She didn't treat it the same way as she did her breakups with Dean or Jess, but it seemed to hurt a bit more considering she was at the age where things definitely could have gotten serious. More than once, Rory tried calling him, but his number changed every time she got a hold of it; she figured that the business life was really doing something for him.

With fifteen minutes to go, Rory left the bookstore and made her way to the Dragonfly Inn. She put several books on hold that she could buy once she found her wallet in the mess that was her luggage back at home. Throughout the entire day, she heard whispers surrounding her, regarding her. She already predicted the reaction she would get when she returned to Stars Hollow; after all, nothing ever went by unnoticed or untouched where she lived. Yet she took it all with a bit of dignity and kept walking, trying to prove to everyone that of all the reasons she was back home, it was not because she had given up.

When she rounded the corner nearest Weston's Bakery, she almost stumbled. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Dean Forrester stood in front of her, just as she saw him the night before. Both of them seemed unsure of what to do at the moment, although obviously desperate to get away from the situation. However, Dean, being the polite one, made the first move.

"Hey, Rory. I…didn't know you were back."

"It's only been a day," she said. "But I can say the same for you. According to my mom, you've been home for a while."

"Just a week," he clarified, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, his fingers running through his long, brown hair. "I had to get back soon because of Clara's graduation."

"Clara? Graduating already?" Rory was bewildered. "Wow, time flies by pretty quickly."

"Yup." Dean stuffed his hands in his pocket.

"Make sure you tell her that I say 'congratulations.' That and the fact that she should wear pantyhose. Those gowns are hot, and standing in them for hours on end is not comfortable at all."

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Dean laughed sheepishly.

Rory nodded. Then for what seemed like an eternity, the two remained silent. Dean took several steps back and forth, as if he were about to go but decided against his better judgment. Rory, on the other hand, swayed side to side again, swishing her hair back and forth as though she were in high school again.

Finally, Rory spoke up. "You never called."

Dean seemed prepared for this. "You never called, either."

"I gave you my number. You didn't give me yours."

"I don't have a cell phone. It broke, remember? Plus, I gave you my email."

"Email isn't always a reliable method of communication unless you're absolutely sure that the person you're emailing checks it frequently, almost religiously."

"I don't check it religiously, but I check it enough to reply on time."

Rory sighed. "Maybe we didn't have to call each other."

"Why not?"

Rory folded her arms, not wanting to dwell on it much longer. "It wouldn't have done much. I mean, it hasn't done anything now."

"Then why are you back?"

"Because I got tired of following the campaign trail. I told you that."

"I forgot, then." He stood there, towering over her with his face almost indifferent.

Rory swayed again and made her first step away from him. "I have to go. I'm already late for lunch with my mom. I guess I'll just see you later."

"Whenever, then," Dean said. He walked away, leaving Rory to feel completely stupid.

As she walked to the Dragonfly, she reflected on what Dean said. While she never did call him, sure, she spent the entire time dwelling in confusion over how to approach the situation. While mostly a year had passed, she wasn't sure if moving onto anything, important or otherwise, was effective in the long run, especially if it was just a lateral move. She tried clearing her thoughts of Dean as she walked up the dirt road to the Dragonfly's entrance, but everything he said just couldn't leave.

As she walked into the Dragonfly, the first thing Rory noticed was Michel's scowl.

"Oh, I had heard you were back. I was hoping it was not true." Michel's derisiveness made Rory want to strangle him for a moment, in a loving way, of course. "Your mother is in the kitchen waiting for you. Please, walk slower so that she may come out here and ask more absurd questions regarding your whereabouts, of which I have no knowledge."

"You only brighten up my day, Michel," Rory said, not in the mood for much more banter. She walked through the dining room and proceeded into the kitchen where, surprisingly enough, Sookie was not there.

"Good morning," Lorelai greeted her daughter.

"Where's Sookie?"

"At home with Martha, Dave, and Carlson."

Rory nodded, remembering that Sookie was still on mandatory maternity leave. "Doesn't Carlson sound too much like Jackson, though?"

"Hon, we've played this game before. Remember: I have no choice in the naming process. I just have to sit and look pretty when it's christening time."

"Right." Rory sighed and grabbed an orange scone off the counter next to the coffee pot.

"What's up? You look…weird."

Rory looked at her mother. "I ran into Dean."

Lorelai heaved her shoulders. "Now, do I have to ask again or what?"

Rory sunk into her stool and set her arms on the counter. Now would be the best time to tell her mom if she ever wanted to get things sorted out.

"Mom…I slept with Dean."

* * *

**AN:** Wow, not to be arrogant or anything, but I'm really happy with where it's going so far; it's far better than the millions of drafts of this story that I've done, I'll tell you that much. Anyway, I hope you liked this one, too, and that it followed up the previous chapter well. Give any feedback and I'll be thankful! Thanks!


	3. Bar Encounter

**LASTING LOVE:**  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Gilmore Girls_. I only write off of it.

* * *

**THREE: Bar Encounter**

Rory waited for some sort of reaction. At the moment, Lorelai's expression was blank with slight traces of uncertainty and confusion resonating from her revealing eyes. She was thankful to have the kitchen empty. She couldn't imagine how the conversation might have gone if the entire kitchen staff had been there.

"Mom?"

"Wait, still processing," Lorelai said, focusing her eyes on the counter. "Deciding what to say."

Rory nodded. After a few more painful moments of waiting, however, she couldn't bear it anymore.

"Mom, I need you to say something, just a small moment out of your processing. I mean, Sophie made her decision quicker than you."

Lorelai shook her head.

"Um…you slept with Dean? Dean Forrester?"

"I didn't know that there was any other Dean?"

'Lorelai scoffed. "Well the probability of there being another Dean in your life was just as likely as you sleeping with Dean, the ex-boyfriend."

Rory folded her arms. "Well, rest assured, there's only one Dean."

"So it _is _Dean the ex-boyfriend, Dean?" Lorelai asked, her eyes almost sorrowful. "I mean, Dean is part…Dean and you…"

"No, not Dean and me," Rory assured her. "Trust me, there is no Dean and me."

"But what about a couple weeks ago, when there was a Dean?" Lorelai clearly wanted details and wanted them now.

"No, not even then." Rory sighed heavily, not imagining that she would have to tell her mom all of this now. "It was a spur of the moment thing."

Lorelai shook her head again, obviously not yet comprehending the situation. "But how? Dean lives here and you were out on a bus. A big bus that should only have _seats_."

"We stopped by in Chicago," Rory explained. "There were a couple of speeches there that I had to cover and, afterwards, some friends and I headed out to a bar."

"Oh, great beginning already." Lorelai stared intently at her daughter.

"Just listen. So, as you know, Dean lived in Chicago before moving here. Well, as fate would have it, Dean was there for an old friend's wedding."

"Fate sounds cruel," Lorelai remarked.

Rory ignored her. "We saw each other at the bar; as it turned out, the wedding just ended and he still had a couple days left in Chicago. I only had that night, so I didn't expect anything. We just talked, talked about the past, talked about Stars Hollow, even talked about you."

"Ew!" Lorelai squealed almost girlishly. "I don't want to be a topic for your sexcapades!"

"Could you _not _call it that?" Rory begged. "Plus, didn't you want me to tell you about _everything_ that regarded this…kind of stuff?"

Lorelai nodded, although half-heartedly. "Okay, keep going."

"That was kind of it. We talked and I told my friends that they could leave before me so that I could catch up with Dean a bit more. I guess my loneliness and homesickness got to me after a while and, before I knew it, he offered a ride over to his hotel room, which was only a block away."

"The story can stop there," Lorelai said. "I think I can kind of figure out what happened after."

Rory sighed miserably. "The last thing I expected was to see him here."

"Hon, Dean lives here. You should know that."

"I don't know how I possibly forgot that." She buried her head in her arms.

Lorelai had to ask something. "Rory, is he the reason why you came back home?"

Rory looked up at her mom. "Partly. I mean, like I said, coming back to Stars Hollow wasn't part of some elaborate plan to stalk him and ignite some sort of relationship with him again. But catching up with Dean did make me realize how much I missed home and how lonely the entire year had been. Plus, I was close to getting pulled off the campaign trail anyway."

"What?" Lorelai was incredulous. "Can they even do that? Were you stealing from the hotel bathrooms or something?"

Rory shook her head. "No, but it's just that the elections are getting a lot more exciting, and with the primary nominations coming up soon, there's just no point in following anymore. I left at a great time."

Lorelai nodded, somewhat understanding her daughter's motives. Feeling incapable of doing anything else, she simply reached out and wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders. Rory tried not to show it, but she was exceptionally grateful for her mother and her all her help.

"So, I'm kind of thinking that I'm going to move in," Rory said, resting her head on her mom's shoulder.

"No problem there, hon. Actually…" Lorelai sat straight up, and Rory followed suit. "You see, Luke's been sleeping over a lot more these days…these past few months, actually. And while he hasn't…officially done so yet, he's basically moved in already. So, I'm just warning you that it's not going to be just you and me again, kiddo."

"You don't need my blessing," Rory told her. "Just as long as he doesn't walk around naked in my house while I'm there, I'm fine with it."

"Oh, trust me; no one walks around naked even when _I'm _there."

"That's good news. Mmm, it's going to be nice moving back in again. I just realized that I haven't actually lived with you completely since high school, if you don't count the summers in between."

"You mean ever since you abandoned me," Lorelai said thoughtfully. "Why, yes, I do remember."

Rory smiled. "Anyway, when are we going to have lunch? I'm starving."

Lorelai gestured to the fridge. "I can cook anything you want."

Rory sighed and just grabbed her mother's arm instead. "Let's just head to Luke's."

Hours later, it was about nine later that night when Rory realized she had unpacked all of her belongings except for her one carry-on item she would take with her whenever she went on the buses or planes. After turning over nearly every corner in her room, she suddenly remembered leaving it at Lane's place before heading to the Firelight Festival; in midst of all the moving gear, hers must have blended in.

Luke was already upstairs sleeping for an early delivery, and Rory came home earlier than her mom after visiting Sookie's quickly to see baby Carlson. She called Lane's shortly before leaving, and once she was done, she grabbed a sweater from her closet and headed outside, mildly craving a cup of coffee.

Aside from a few minor installations (a streetlight here, another unnecessary stoplight there), Stars Hollow still looked the same at night. Tonight was one of the nights when Luke left Caesar in charge of closing, so she could still glimpse the diner's lights a couple yards away. One of Ms. Patty's "lunar dance" seminars occupied the gazebo, with multiple Frank Sinatra songs booming from the stereo that the dancers were moving in beat to. Sookie's house was still a short walk away that she could head there afterwards if she wanted to see Carlson again, but she decided she just really wanted to sleep again.

The weariness of the night started to take its toll on her eyelids, making them heavy and almost unbearable to keep open. Walking and sleeping was not something that she was ever trained to do, nor something that she would want to learn at the moment. As a result, she turned to a specific memory, a memory that had been running through – or was it haunting? – her mind for the past weeks…

* * *

She was sitting upright, almost awkwardly so. Of all the bars she and her friends could have chosen ("The Slop and Stop!" to be specific), they chose the one that had her ex-boyfriend. That and the only bar within a five mile radius that had beanbags in the corner next to some bookshelves. As much as Rory loved books, she could see no actual need for them within an establishment that really only had one purpose.

"So, you didn't have to sit next to me," Dean told her when he sensed that Rory might have been deep in thought. "I mean, I didn't want to take you away from your friends."

"Oh, it's no problem. To be honest, they're getting a little too wild for me," Rory said, gesturing to the bar where her bus partner, Juliet, was constructing pornographic images with salted peanuts. "Not the right type of crowd for me, if you know what I mean."

Dean looked around. "Actually, a bar is the last place I would have expected to see you, much less a bar here in Chicago."

Rory nodded humbly. "I've got surprises left in me, I guess. Well, I've told you my story why I'm here. But you haven't told me yours. Spill. Why aren't you home at Stars Hollow?"

"I'm here for a friend's wedding." He took a sip of his beer and Rory felt a strange sense of admiration for him; her ex-boyfriend, her _first _boyfriend, was now grown-up and drinking beer in front of her. In a way, it reinforced the fact that she was now in a world of adults. "The wedding was a couple of hours ago and the reception ended early. And since my friend is the only person I know here and he's off doing…married stuff, I had no where else to go."

"How long are you staying?"

"A couple days, max. I'm trying to get a flight out of here as soon as I can."

"Mmm." She swished around her drink, which was really only a very weak gin tonic, and took a small sip. "It's kind of weird, isn't it, being here after not having seen each other in forever?"

Dean nodded, relieved. "I thought it was only weird for me."

"Oh, no," Rory said. "Trust me, there's plenty of weird to go around for both of us."

Dean simply sighed contently.

"Hey, Rory." She whirled around on her beanbag and saw Juliet standing over her. Her red hair was all frizzled from dancing earlier that Rory resisted participation in. "The guys and I are going to head back to the hotel and go back to sleep for the morning seminar. You coming?"

Rory looked at Dean and then back at Juliet. A quality in Dean's eyes obviously wanted her to say, but by his gestures, he suggested that she could go if she wanted.

"No, thanks, I'll just catch up later. Plus, I still have this bad boy to finish," Rory said awkwardly, pointing to her almost-entirely-full drink.

Juliet smiled suggestively. "If you say so." Then she looked at Dean before speaking again. "I hope you're talking about your drink."

Rory swatted her away and then sighed as soon as she was gone. "I'm sorry about that. Juliet's a bit…brash."

Dean laughed it off. "It's okay. Actually, I'm pretty glad you stayed."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," he said, still smiling. "It means we have more time to talk."

Rory smiled. However, her smile started to fade when she realized that she was alone with Dean. It wasn't so much that it was a bad thing, just that it was something she hadn't done in a long time, so she had no idea how to feel about any of it.

"Do…I mean, are you seeing anyone these days?" Rory figured that she hadn't lost the right to check up on an ex's love life.

"Not really," Dean said. "Slim pickings in the construction field, if you know what I mean."

"Sure," Rory replied.

"What about you? How's Logan doing?"

Rory frowned, realizing that he didn't know. Then again, it wasn't as if he _should_ know. In the end, it wasn't weird if she told him, right?

"We broke up right after I graduated." After, she went into the entire story, detailing his engagement and the ultimatum he delivered.

"What a jerk," Dean concluded at the end.

"Not really," Rory said, still feeling a need to defend him. "I mean, we were together for a really long time, so it doesn't make any sense at all how I was blindsided by it. But I've moved on."

Dean nodded, contemplating her words for a while. Then he said, "Do you…do you think you want to come with me to my hotel room? I mean, it's kind of weird just sitting here in a bar that closes in an hour when my hotel room is just a block away. I promise I'll pay for drinks."

Rory thought about it a while. Comprising a hasty pro/con list in her mind, she pondered the consequences of going up to his hotel room. Naturally, she knew what everything could lead to, but…it didn't seem to matter at the moment. Dean was Dean and she was Rory; that was it. It wasn't as if there was anything that hadn't happened before between the two of them. And should _nothing _happen tonight, then all the better. All she would have gotten was a good conversation with an old friend, and that was certainly worth going to his hotel room.

"Sure," Rory said, standing up and leaving her drink on the table near her. "Only if you promise me some macadamia nuts."

"No macadamia nuts in my room, but I do have some cashews," he said.

"Oh, then I might have to rethink that offer…" She hadn't noticed that she grabbed his hand by instinct.

That night, around one in the morning, after the two had exchanged information and Dean had fallen asleep, Rory suddenly felt as though she simply had to leave. Not wanting to be rude, she left a note on the pad of paper the room provided. She left words of gratitude and a long explanation as to why she left, the main reason being that she had an early morning and that she might not wake up in time.

"How lame," Rory lamented of herself softly as she wrapped up in her coat and shut the hotel room door behind her.

* * *

**AN:** Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! I hope you liked this chapter, too, and that you get a sense of the spontaneity of Rory's actions, realizing that there actually is some logic in what she did. Now, it's time to get down to the nitty and the gritty of Rory and Dean's encounter...and the consequences it brings.


	4. Some Party People

**

* * *

**

**LASTING LOVE:  
**Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been**.**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Gilmore Girls_. I only write off of it.

* * *

**FOUR: Some Party People**

Rory woke up early Saturday morning. Feeling useless just sitting on her bed without any work to do or a decent book to read, she decided to rearrange her room. Everything about it seemed…juvenile and ill-suited for an adult. Or, at least, ill-suited for a twenty-three-year-old. She reorganized the books on her shelves, taking out quite a few of the ones she read back in high school and put them in a cardboard box, replacing them with books she picked up over the past year. She moved picture frames around and tried repositioning her desk several times before putting it back where it originally started. By seven, Lorelai and Luke were still asleep and her room looked almost entirely the same as it did an hour ago. Regardless, Rory felt accomplished.

As soon as she walked into the kitchen for her usual caffeine dose, she felt a sudden aversion to coffee and opted for something different instead. Still not understanding the odd demands of her body, she grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and poured some into a glass. She frowned as soon as the acidic taste hit her tongue and started scouting for something else in the kitchen. The good thing about having Luke "move in" was that newer choices were introduced to the kitchen, ranging from the usual Pop Tarts to the new selection of muffins accompanied by a small box of herbal tea. The sweet smells proved too much to resist, and she made her breakfast choice.

Sitting down at the breakfast table, she took a small bite of the lemon poppy seed muffin she chose. Within moments, her stomach grumbled and demanded that she take the entire muffin and throw it in her mouth. Soon, the box on the counter was out three muffins.

Rory looked up and saw Lorelai stumbling into the kitchen, sleepy-eyed. She glanced at the empty coffee machine and peered over into Rory's mug, filled with a strange, greenish liquid that certainly did not resemble coffee.

"Hon, part of the agreement of moving back in here is to make coffee for Mommy as soon as you wake up. This isn't going to work. What're you drinking?"

"Tea," Rory said, feeling the unfamiliarity of the word as it slipped out of her mouth.

"Blasphemy," Lorelai mumbled, looking under the counter for the coffee.

Rory would have replied, but a strange rumbling in her stomach sent the uncomfortable lurching sensation up her chest. She shivered momentarily, waiting for the nauseating waves to subside. However, it became too much for her to handle when she could practically feel the three muffins bursting into her mouth. She jumped up, flipping the chair upside down behind her, and ran up the stairs towards the bathroom. Flinging the toilet seat up, she fell to her knees and emptied the contents of her stomach into the porcelain basin. After several aftershocks, she feebly got up and flushed the toilet multiple times as if to erase any of what she had just done.

Rory headed back downstairs, where her mother was sitting at the table curiously eyeing the contents of her daughter's mug.

"Strange, I didn't know we had this," Lorelai said. "Hey, what was that?"

"I got a bit nauseous," Rory admitted, sitting down adjacent to her mother and feeling very empty.

Lorelai pointed accusingly at the mug of tea. "All dissenters will be punished. Now get rid of this sacrilege and go to your room and pray for salvation."

"Good idea," Rory replied weakly, dumping the tea down the sink. As she did so, the phone started ringing. "I've got it," she said.

She head down the hallway and picked up the phone near the living room.

"Hello?"

"Rory?" Lane's voice asked on the other line.

"I just threw up chunks of muffin."

"Ew. Thanks for that. I already have two kids – the last thing I need is another barf story."

"When you put it like that it makes my accomplishments sound stupid," Rory replied frankly.

"Listen, don't get mad or anything, but what're you doing later this afternoon?"

"Hey, that's a good way of making me less suspicious. What're you planning?"

"_I'm_ not the one planning anything, but I want to know. Just tell me and make it quick."

"Lane!" Rory demanded. "Tell me or I'll tell you what kind of muffin it was."

"Okay, well, the town is planning a small but…_fun_ homecoming party for you at Ms. Patty's studio today. They never told me to not tell you, but I kind of figured it was a given."

"What?" Rory was incredulous. "When did this happen? I don't want a party."

"Rory, you live in Stars Hollow. It doesn't matter who or what or when but all that matters is that there's going to be a party today and you're expected to be there. Otherwise, it's just going to be like the time we had a wedding reception for Ms. Patty after she came back from Vegas without getting married."

"Who's coming?" Rory asked, Dean's face suddenly popping up into her head.

"The entire town, obviously. And your grandparents, too, if you want them to come. Sookie's cooking, so that should be enough to keep them here."

Rory remembered her grandparents and the fact that they didn't know she was back yet; she would give them dinner some other day.

"Okay, I guess. There goes my afternoon."

"As if you had anything else to do," Lane remarked. "Okay, I've got to go. Kwan is peeing near my drum set. Bye!"

Rory hung up the phone and headed into the kitchen where Lorelai was looking at her.

"Who was it?"

"A _party_, Mom?" Rory whined, sitting back down. "No rest for the weary, is there?"

"It wasn't my idea," Lorelai explained. "The only thing I agreed to do was to bring you."

"Sucks," Rory grumbled, burying her head in her arms.

"If you're sick, you don't have to go." Lorelai patted her daughter's arm. "But if you don't go, then I'm going to have to tell everyone that you couldn't make it, and then they're going to ask questions, and then I'm going to tell them that I know nothing, and then they're going to bring up your graduation again and it's just going to get ugly."

Rory moaned. "Fine. But you have to take me shopping first."

"Done deal," Lorelai said, slurping up the rest of her coffee.

"And we have to tell Grandma and Grandpa that I'm back _sometime_."

"We'll see."

* * *

When Lane told Rory that it was going to be a small party, she must have been confused. Of all things, the party was _not_ small. Similar to the baby shower that they held for Lane two years back, the entire dance studio was covered in decorations, not to mention people, food, and gifts. With two tables for gifts and an additional six tables for food (Sookie didn't skimp at all), there was no cutting back.

"Is it even appropriate to bring gifts?" Rory asked her mother uncomfortably. "All I did was come back home."

"If that's the case, then you can just give me back that blouse so I can return it." Lorelai eyed the white top. "Or I can wear it."

"Rory, darlin'!"

Babette was running up to Rory with a handful of balloons in her hand. She handed them to Rory, who took them with a little bit of hesitancy.

"We weren't sure what to get'cha, so we figured balloons would be enough for now," Babette explained. "Boy, you look good! Did you do something different with your hair? It's straighter, isn't it? I always told you, travel does a girl good!"

Rory nodded. "That it does."

Babette turned to Lorelai. "Hey, did you see Dean walking around here at the Firelight Festival? I tell you, that kid's always a surprise to me. One moment he's married, the next he's not – one moment he's gone, the next he's not!"

Lorelai glanced sideways at Rory uneasily. "Yeah, I guess…I don't really know."

Babette noticed what she just did and turned to Rory. "Oh I'm sorry, honey! I forgot about you and Dean! I did it again, didn't I? Boy, I tell you, after a couple years in the heat, things just tend to go all _woo-hoo_ up in the noggin!"

"Yes it does, Babette," Lorelai said, patting her friend on the shoulder and angling her towards the buffet. "Look, Sookie made some of those mushroom cheese things that you like."

As soon as Babette scurried away, Lorelai turned to Rory, apologetically. "Okay, after this party, I promise we'll pack up and leave where no one will be able to make you feel uncomfortable like that again. Granted, we'll probably have to change identities, and I don't know how Luke might look after a sex change…"

Rory shrugged. "It's okay. It doesn't bother me that much. It's over with, right?"

Lorelai smiled. "Good thinking there, hon. Hey, make sure you go over and thank Sookie, okay? She spent all of last night cooking for this party."

"A party I didn't want."

Lorelai batted her off and walked towards the gift table, most likely to check out the plunder Rory brought in.

"Hey, Sookie!" Rory exclaimed, picking up a cupcake on the way. "Thanks so much for all of this. Seriously, you didn't have to do this."

"Are you kidding me?" Sookie asked, stirring some fondue. "This is the first real cooking I've done since I had Carlson. I swear, if Jackson brings home anymore Easy-Mac I'll wring his neck."

"Where are Jackson and the kids?"

"He's at home with them. Davey's got the flu and Martha's got some kind of weird rash, so we put them in quarantine. Carlson's over there with Lane and her twins. Hey, make sure that she's giving him _his_ formula and not the stuff she's giving Steve and Kwan. I have nothing against it, it's just that Carlson's not used to it and…"

"Can do," Rory said as she whirled on her heel and headed over to Lane, who was sitting at a table with Zach and two strollers, one big enough for twins and one just for Carlson.

"Hey there," Rory greeted her friends. She saw that the three kids were sleeping. Steve and Kwan, with their unruly black hair, slept lopsided with their feet going every which way.

"Hi, Rory," Zach said. "Nice to have you back."

"Thanks, Zach." She turned her attention to Lane. "How'd you get them to sleep?"

"Carlson slept right away," she said wearily. "But after three cookies and a cupcake each, Steve and Kwan finally went to sleep. Sugar crash."

"I'm guessing Mrs. Kim isn't here."

"She's a Bible camp counselor," Lane informed her. "She's been gone for the past two months. Honestly, the only thing I can do is sympathize for those kids."

"Amen," Rory said. "So, um…I need to tell you something."

Lane turned to Zach. "Hey, honey, do you think you can get me some punch?"

Zach flushed. "Don't call me honey in front of Rory…" He stood up and headed towards the drinks table.

"Sorry," Lane said. "Okay, so what is it?"

"I threw up again."

"_Again_?"

"At Luke's for lunch," Rory explained. "How was it with you?"

"I threw up a million times, remember? I had a stomach flu and all sorts of nasty stuff. Then again I was having twins, so maybe it was above normal."

Rory moaned.

"I think you're going to have to," Lane told her.

"I _know_," Rory said irritably. "I'm sorry…I just don't want to. I can't believe this is happening."

"Nothing is happening yet," Lane reminded her.

Rory sighed. "Listen, there are eyes everywhere, so do you think you could do me a favor and get it for me? And make sure Dean isn't there because I don't know if he still works at Doose's or not."

"I'll just head to the pharmacy then," Lane said, grabbing her purse.

"Thanks so much," Rory said. "I'll take care of the kids. And I'll drink your punch for you."

Lane stood up and before heading off, turned to Rory one more time.

"Wake them up and I'll _kill_ you."

Rory laughed a little and sunk into her chair, more apprehensive than words could explain.

* * *

**AN:** So, I'm incredibly proud of where I've gotten so far - in all my other drafts, I never made it this far. This is really an accomplishment for me. I hope you liked this chapter and thank you for all your feedback for the past three ones. Now don't hesitate to follow up with some more!


	5. Tissue Wrapped Favors

**LASTING LOVE**:  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls _does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**FIVE: Tissue-Wrapped Favors**

Rory waited for what seemed like an eternity once Lane left. Steve and Kwan stirred occasionally, at which point Zach would hum a small tune to calm them down. Carlson, on the other hand, did not move at all, once or twice lifting an arm before resting it again. She watched her mother from the table. She was making the rounds, talking with several people before going to back to her table with Luke, who was sitting alone with several cans of unopened beer before him as protective measures.

Most of the time, however, Rory watched the three babies in front of her. Although she enjoyed them, she never quite spent time with a baby. She absolutely hated the birthing process, or at least she had a high aversion to it; Sookie's labor with Martha was enough to prove that. However, that didn't mean that she didn't like them. She just didn't know how to deal with them. Anything of this substantial subject matter required lots of reading and lots of research before she would be anywhere near competent to actually take care of and baby-sit a baby. When Lauren Dells in high school started her own babysitting service, Rory petitioned to start a book club.

Why was she thinking about this in the first place? Nothing was confirmed, therefore nothing was ensured to happen. Yet she could not stop her worrying; after all, she had been worried in the weeks since she slept with Dean. She could not quite remember any precautions being taken that night, which made her second spontaneous fling with Dean (the first one during the Dragonfly's opening) all the more dangerous. In spite of all the literature and media presented to her in high school, not to mention the frank talks she had with her mother as early as six years old, Rory was still in a precarious position. She started remembering her mother's own scare three years ago after she started eating apples on her own accord.

Zach stood up and grabbed hold of the twins' stroller. "Listen, Rory, I'm going to head home. No offense or anything, but I'm getting kind of beat and the boys are, too."

"None taken," Rory said.

"Tell Lane for me?"

"Sure."

When Zach left, Rory only had more time to think. Although she was still nauseous, it was never bad enough that she had to bolt to the bathroom. Even when Sookie took Carlson, Rory still felt well enough to sit and have a couple more drinks.

"Hey," Lorelai said, sitting down by her daughter. "Why aren't you drinking, dancing on tabletops, and giving your number out to strange guys? Aren't you having fun?"

"Oh, you bet I am," Rory said. "I'm just not in the giving-my-number-out mood."

"So, hey, I packed us up some mac and cheese, chicken pot pies, and taquitos to take home. Not to mention five boxes of cookies and anything else sweet. I'm going to go home with Luke to drop them off first because he keeps mentioning something about a game."

"A game?" Rory asked, intrigued.

"On television, no less," Lorelai sighed. "Men these days and their sports on television."

"Living vicariously was never so fun," Rory commented.

Lorelai stood up. "Drink a couple shots at least…for me."

Rory simply waved at her mother. "I'll think about dancing…maybe."

She watched as Lorelai walked over to her table, pulling Luke up by the sleeve, who she made carry four, filled plastic bags. He caught Rory's eye and waved, mouthing something undoubtedly complimentary to her. Then the two left the dance studio, walking into the darkening night.

After several more minutes of waiting, Rory finally saw Lane walk inside with a non-revealing brown paper bag clutched in her hands. She sat down next to Rory, looking relieved to be back.

"Where _were_ you?" Rory asked. "I've been panicking here."

"What about _me_?" Lane replied. "Kirk was at the pharmacy buying burn cream after working with the s'mores machine outside. He saw me buying the test and thought that _I_ was pregnant again! Then he started talking about how Lulu wanted kids and how he made up some excuse how he was unable to have them because something about nighttime insecurities and nightmares. And then I saw Zach walking home with the twins. Could you imagine what he would say if he saw me with this test again?"

"I'm _really_ sorry," Rory apologized profusely. "But thank you so much. I'll take the test as soon as I get home."

"Are you kidding me? No, not after what I went through to get you this. You're taking it now."

"_Now_?" Rory stuffed the bag into her purse. "I can't take it now! That means having to go home and who knows what could happen if I go home and leave the party unsupervised."

"Go take it out back in the bushes," Lane suggested. "I'll keep you covered."

"Ew, gross, no!" Rory looked around the room. "Mmm I think Ms. Patty has a bathroom in that corner. Yeah, I remember her telling me about it when she and some Columbian guy…never mind. Just give me a few moments and I'll be back."

"Don't flake out on me," Lane warned her.

Rory made her way to the bathroom as inconspicuously as she could, hiding behind balloons and throwing herself in the gaps between large groups of people. Once or twice along the way, she felt her stomach lurch a bit, making her need to take the test that much more desperate. When she reached the bathroom, she ran inside and shut the door quickly behind her.

It was a small room, small enough to have gone by unnoticed for the past fifteen or so years. However, with a toilet and a sink and a decent mirror, it was fine by Rory's standards. Plus, it certainly was big enough for Ms. Patty to do…whatever it was that she did in there.

She looked at the small pink box Lane gave her. She didn't like pink. She avoided pink if she could. None of her clothes were pink; they were all professional colors, like black, grey, and even navy blue, but that was really stretching it. A lot of change happened to her in the past year, and just the thought of even going _back_ to pink simply because of this one indiscretion of hers, was just unbearable.

As she ripped off the top of the box, Rory felt a slight pang of embarrassment and uncertainty all at once. This was a scene she never thought would happen…at least not now, at her age.

Then again, there were times when she wondered if the scene would _ever_ happen. She had turned away Jess, but her excuse then was that she was too young, that he was too reckless. She gave Dean another chance – or was it him that gave her the chance? – and she messed that up, too. It seemed she had been running out of options, even at her young age, when Logan came along. And for the longest time, she felt some sort of doubt regarding their relationship. If not his immaturity, then his lack of commitment when she had it. And in the most ironic twist of events…he was finally ready. He had finally settled down. He _finally_ wanted her, and all that she had to offer. She didn't expect it, but Logan might not have been the one, in spite of how much she wanted to believe he was it towards the end.

Rory sighed mournfully. How could she possibly pee now?

* * *

She expected the party to have died down significantly once she came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later; time wasn't as kind to her as she wanted. Getting in the mindset to pee took at least five minutes. When she finally did get to pee, all of the drinks from the day came back to haunt her. And since Lane, in her haste, bought Rory a less-than-competent test, the wait period took longer than a better test would have required.

Rory saw her mother trying to get Luke to budge from his seat and onto the dance floor across the room; she guessed that they didn't stay at home for the game, after all. She would have offered to help, but she had much more important matters to tend to at the moment, even more important than the "Pin the Tail on the Moving Donkey" Kirk was organizing in the back corner for the kids (as the donkey, of course).

She sat down next to Lane, who had obviously been waiting in apprehension the entire time. Rory had the test in her hand, wrapped up in several layers of tissue paper. She wondered why she was not so affected at the moment, why she wasn't crying. It concerned her. As Rory, she _needed_ that emotional outlet in order to move on and accept things. When she and Dean broke up the first time, her refusal to wallow led to several days of denial and emotional stifling. What would happen now?

"Rory, unless you're planning on having Paul Revere ride through town and tell everyone the news, I can't wait much longer." Lane inched closer to her best friend, inched back in hesitancy, and then leaned in completely so no one else would hear.

Rory turned to Lane and put the tissue-wrapped test on the table, feeling a bit disgusted as she did so.

"Lane, it's positive."

* * *

**AN:** Sorry so much for the delay, but what with testing and other niceties in life, I've been pretty busy. I actually had 2/3 done immediately after Ch. 4, but getting around to that last 1/3 was a pain. Hope you liked this chapter because things just go...places from here, now (haha). As always, read and review, please!


	6. Crispy Pizza Wontons

**LASTING LOVE**:  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls_ does not belong to me. I simply write off of it.

* * *

**SIX: Crispy Pizza Wontons**

Rory held back on telling her mom anything before she knew it was safe enough to do so. She didn't really know what _safe_ meant, especially in this context, but she knew that she would have to tell Lorelai soon. Of all the things her mother ever deserved to know, this was one of them.

A week had passed since Rory discovered she was pregnant. In that week, she hadn't seen Lane due mostly to her best friend's fear of leaving the house and returning to find it destroyed with the twins standing amidst the ruins. Also, she hadn't seen Dean, which was both good and bad. It was good because it meant being able to delay the inevitable just a bit longer. It was bad, however, simply because of that – because it was inevitable.

She thought of calling him first before telling Lorelai. But telling Lane before her own mother was already a grave offense, and the thought of scaring Dean away was even worse. Of course she didn't expect anything from him, not at all.

Rory sat in her room, as she had been for the past week. She rarely ever went out these days, except for her visits to the Dragonfly or to Luke's for a triple-patty burger and chili cheese fries (she was thankful that the only thing pregnancy had done to her was change the portion amount). For the past couple of days, she sat in front of her laptop on top of her bed, typing all sorts of lists that had to deal with her pregnancy. The first item on her list was to get herself to a proper doctor for an actual check-up. Right now, she was compiling a list of people she would have to tell.

"Mom, obviously," Rory whispered as she typed her name out. "Dean…maybe we'll put him at the bottom of the list." Rory did as she said and the moment that the pang of guilt hit her, she put him back in his rightful position of second place.

"Let's see…" Rory muttered, her fingers tapping nervously on the keyboard without actually pressing anything.

"Dad –" _Crap_.

"Luke –" _Crap_.

"Grandpa –" Rory winced. _Crap._

"Grandma –" _Damn._

When making the list became too trying, Rory shut her laptop and changed positions so that her entire body was on the bed. Lying down, she tried to ease her nerves, not to mention the recurring nausea that tried to force its way up her esophagus.

Carefully, Rory set her hands on her stomach, which, remarkably, was still flat, if not for a slight bulge near her waist. She had been doing this a lot lately – placing her hands on her stomach – and the notion of it scared her entirely. However, she enjoyed doing it. If anything, it relaxed her. She sighed and slowly ran her fingers gently up and down, almost tickling her entire abdominal region.

The image of her walking around Stars Hollow with a full and rounded stomach filled her mind instantaneously. She did not try to push it away. Instead, she embraced the thought, as she embraced her body, which would soon blossom as it did with others. The image lasted several breaths…several heartbeats.

Then Rory imagined a baby. She imagined a baby in her arms while she sat in a chair, bright glowing light around her. Perhaps she was stretching the imagination too far, but this one was her favorite. It scared her the most, sure, but this one lasted several minutes.

* * *

Rory suddenly remembered why she didn't want to go outside. It wasn't as though the memory had left her that quickly, because, honestly, with something as embarrassing as that, how could you possibly forget?

A week ago, towards the end of the party and after Lane left with Rory's pregnancy test with promises of preserving it for her, Rory was helping take down the decorations for the party. As she handed Kirk one of the streamers, she threw up without any warning. Thankfully, Kirk's experience with accidents caused him to react and avoid immediately. Unfortunately, the damage was done; when half of the chattiest block in Stars Hollow sees _that_, you don't expect it to go away. Instead, she merely ran away as soon as she could, claiming she drank too much.

"Rory!" Ms. Patty's voice resounded as she entered Luke's.

Rory turned around from the bar where she was sitting and smiled politely. "Hey, Ms. Patty."

The former dancer and showgirl came up to Rory and patted her heavily and friendly on the back. "You feeling okay, honey? That was quite a scene last week."

Rory sighed. "Yeah, I'm feeling better. Just had too much fun, I guess."

"Oh, you bad girl," Ms. Patty said, laughing nostalgically. "I used that excuse back in my heyday, too, you know. Have you…been careful lately?" She said the last part quietly while gesturing largely around her stomach area.

"Ms. Patty," Rory said calmly. "I don't have a boyfriend right now, and I just got home."

Ms. Patty smiled knowingly, a smile that made Rory feel really uncomfortable. "The road has a way of working a girl…"

"Patty!" Luke came from kitchen with Rory's pastrami sandwich and onion rings. "Are you harassing my customers?" His voice was gruff and demanding.

"Of course not, Luke," Ms. Patty said sweetly. "Just giving my share of advice, that's all."

"Go give your advice over there," Luke said, gesturing to the corner of the diner, "Before I refuse to serve you."

Ms. Patty batted her eyelashes playfully at Luke before retreating to her assigned table.

Luke set the plate in front of Rory. "Geez, you just got back and people are already messing with you."

"Not really," Rory said as she took a big bite out of her sandwich (at which Luke seemed entirely disgusted). "I've been here two weeks now. Just saying."

Luke folded his arms. "Your mom's burger is still on the grill. Slow down, won't you?"

Rory kept munching. "Oh yeah…_Mom's_ burger. Yeah, just put it in a bag and throw some fries in there with them."

"Doesn't Sookie usually cook for lunch?" Luke asked.

"I guess not today," Rory said, wiping her mouth with the wrapper the sandwich came in.

Luke turned away and went back into the kitchen. "I'm throwing in a salad with it!" he called as he went to get the burger.

"Put extra ranch!" Rory requested, throwing an onion ring into her mouth.

* * *

It was almost sunset when Lorelai came home. Rory was sitting on the couch, watching television. For the first time in a long time, the urge to throw up hadn't visited her and she celebrated with a good dose of _I Love Lucy_. However, the uncomfortable sensation visited her stomach once again when her mother opened the door.

"What's that _smell_?" Rory held her breath and turned downwind of the nauseating odor.

Lorelai looked ambushed as she innocently held up a plastic bag with several take out boxes inside. "It's Moroccan night at Al's! I thought you liked Al's! I even brought you some of his crispy pizza wontons. Yum, right?"

Rory swished her arm around in the air. "No! Pizza and wontons? The only time those two should _ever_ be together is when, by some sheer accident that only the government has control over, they meet on a plate and therefore have to be thrown out. You see? Even when they mix by _accident_ they still have to be thrown out."

Lorelai frowned. "Wow, well, make sure that Al doesn't hear that. He's going through his annual 'creation frustration,' and hearing your harsh remarks would only break him." She went into the kitchen and Rory followed.

"Get a culinary degree then, why don't you?" Rory asked rhetorically. She placed her hands on her hips while still breathing through her mouth. "Anything else you got?"

"Well, Mrs. Sourpuss, you're in luck!" Lorelai dug into her purse and pulled out a grease-stained paper bag with several napkins overflowing from its opening. "Following my brilliant pizza wonton idea, I thought that some cheesy sticks would go well with our eccentric yet selective palate."

Rory folded her arms. "Yeah, okay. Hey, Mom, before we eat I have something to tell you."

Lorelai arranged the food on the table. "Is this about the food again? Let me tell you, from the day you were born, you have never had a problem with the food I've fed you, except for that one spoiled Spaghetti-O's incident of '94, but other than that –"

"Mom."

"– I have provided for you as any mother should, and boy, judging from the examples I had back at the Gilmore mansion, I think I have gone above and beyond the call of maternal duty. In fact, I should just let you starve," Lorelai concluded. "Or you can go to your grandparents' house and eat quail Mazatlán every day. Oh my gosh, that was the worst thing I had eaten, _ever_. I bet pizza wontons sound good by now, huh?"

"Mom," Rory said again, this time a bit more forceful.

Lorelai, however, ignored the urgency. "Oh, come on, Rory, just try the wontons! I promise they taste good! Trust me, the quality of Al's food has gotten _so_ much better while you were gone. He even took out MSG! I have no idea what that is, of course, but still!"

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed. "I need to tell you something."

Lorelai's face dimmed. "Oh, wow, serious face. Serious voice. Serious…everything. Okay, um, is this a sit-down kind of something or is this more of a let's-go-into-the-living-room kind of something where Mommy won't scare Paul Anka?" Paul Anka lifted his head from his corner in the kitchen and whimpered slightly.

Rory fumbled around with her fingers, unsure of where to head with things. "You can sit down if you want – actually, wait, no – I mean, yeah, let's sit down. Sure, that sounds good."

"Lack of proper transitions, _check_," Lorelai whispered as the two sat down at the table, mounds of food stacked in between them. "Okay, hon, shoot."

Rory inhaled deeply. "Look, Mom, I don't really know how to go about telling you this, and the way that I envisioned this did not even resemble having this talk over bags of breadsticks and wontons. Trust me."

"Rory, my heart's racing and I need you to tell me whatever it is that you have to say before it explodes."

She looked at the table instead of looking her mom straight in the eyes. She didn't want to see the disappointment in them.

"Mom…I'm pregnant."

* * *

**AN**: So? What's the general consensus? Good, bad? Haha, I don't know, but reviews are always appreciated! My favorite moments in writing this are the interactions between Rory and Lorelai. As this story opens up, you'll begin to see that Rory's problems aren't the only ones here, and that Lorelai is just as important as her daughter.


	7. Blindsided

**LASTING LOVE**:  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls_ does not belong to me. I simply write off of it.

* * *

**SEVEN: Blindsided**

"_Pregnant_? You can't possibly be pregnant. For heaven's sake, you're sixteen! _Sixteen_, Lorelai!"

Lorelai scoffed so as to mask her real emotions. "Yeah, well I am. These things happen and it just so turned out that they happened to _me_."

Emily wiped her brow and stomped her foot simultaneously; she must have been angry.

"These things most certainly _do not_ happen, Lorelai Gilmore!" Emily's voice was so loud that it actually scared Lorelai. "These things _do not_ happen to girls, young girls, girls like _you_!"

Lorelai fell back on the couch and closed her eyes, willing for the tears to come out. "Mom, do you think that for _once_, you could pay attention to the things in front of you and not ignore them? I'm _pregnant_ and I'm actually telling you. Give me some credit!"

Emily's eyes widened incredulously, and she towered over Lorelai. "Damn it, Lorelai, are you asking for some credit? Some goddamn credit? In what context would I give my sixteen-year-old daughter any credit for being pregnant?"

Lorelai sighed miserably, bringing her knees up to her chest and burrowing her head in her arms.

Emily gasped several times, as though she were out of breath or as though she were about to cry. However, she composed herself and stood up straight, wearing a stern, almost mournful expression that Lorelai always described as her "someone broke the china" face. But this was so much more than broken glass.

"No one will know," Emily whispered morosely. "You can't tell anyone and be stupid about it, Lorelai. And, of course, we'll have to call Straub and Francine."

Lorelai looked up from her fetal position, with eyes wide in an almost pleading manner. "Straub and…?"

"I know it's Christopher, Lorelai," Emily said scathingly. "Who else could it possibly be? Go into your room and put your dress on its hangar; I have to return it first thing tomorrow morning, without refund of course. Just wait until your father gets home."

Lorelai stood up, her ears hot and her face clearly flushed. Her eyes were swollen, but they weren't doing the one job she wanted them to do. She wanted to throw up. This time it wasn't for the obvious, but it was because she literally felt sick. As much as she desired to stray as far from the Gilmore path as she could, Lorelai never expected it would get this far.

"Damn it," she whispered to herself as she climbed the stairs.

* * *

By now, the pizza wontons and the Moroccan food created an odor so unpleasantly pungent that Rory's inclination to throw up was great. However, her mom hadn't mentioned anything in the last minute, ever since Rory told her the truth. Her face seemed glazed over. She couldn't tell if it was a good sign or not.

"Mom…" Rory tried her hardest not to sound urgent. "If you could…say something or anything at all, it would be appreciated. The one thing I want to do right now is throw everything up in the sink, but if you said _something_, I probably wouldn't."

Lorelai looked Rory in the eye and what Rory saw in them were traces of sadness. She cleared her throat.

"Um…I can't…really think of anything to say, Rory." Her voice was indistinguishable. "I…um…pregnant?"

"Yeah," Rory said. She folded her hands on the table, awkwardly so.

"Uh…wow. Rory, I can't really say anything."

"Yes, you can," Rory urged, almost pleadingly. "You _have_ to say something, otherwise I'll go completely crazy."

Lorelai laughed, although with false pretense. "Seriously, Rory, I can't say anything. I'm thinking of ways to approach this without completely losing it, so if you could just…"

"What's on your mind right now?"

"Rory!"

"Tell me!"

"Honestly?" Lorelai turned to her daughter, looking almost guilty. "I'm a terrible mother for even thinking this…but the first thing that's coming to head right now? I'm thinking of calling your grandmother and asking her to start planning the baby shower."

Rory appeared flabbergasted. "Mom! Come on; be serious."

Lorelai shook her head, starting slight fits of laughter. "I-I-I…Rory, now I get why you didn't want to eat any of this crap."

"Are you really going to laugh at this?" Rory asked seriously. Her frown was prominent.

Lorelai was chortling at this point. "Oh my god, could you just _imagine_ my mother's face when I tell her that you're pregnant? _Priceless_!"

Rory stood up, utterly disappointed with her mother. "This is not about Grandma right now."

"Oh trust me, Rory, it's always about your grandmother. When I got pregnant, it was about me interfering with her seat in the D.A.R. Now that you're pregnant, it's going to be about you interfering with a tea party at the Queen's castle, or something. Oh – my – god!" Lorelai started laughing ferociously again.

"What is it now?" Rory asked impatiently.

"You almost _ate_ this crap!" She gestured to the food that was getting colder on the table. "I almost made you eat it! Now _that's_ bad parenting!"

Rory couldn't believe what she was hearing. Without waiting to hear anymore from her mother, she rotated on her heel and marched into her room, slamming the door behind her.

She threw herself into bed, resisting her natural penchant to cry. Had it been eight years ago, she would have turned on her stereo and blasted whatever CD was inside at the moment (at the time, Macy Gray was her go-to album). And now, even as a twenty-three-year-old, even without the Macy Gray CD, it was still the same. She was lying in bed with her back turned to the door counting the seconds in her head until her mother would come inside and finally talk to her about…whatever it was that needed talking over.

Minutes passed and Rory heard her stomach grumble, inciting feelings of nostalgia for the wontons sitting outside on the kitchen table. And yet she refused to move, knowing full well that Lorelai wouldn't just let her sulk alone. She would have to tamper. Even if it was something as big as this, even if this time, Rory had screwed up exponentially worse than she ever had before, Lorelai always came in to talk to her. Always.

The doorknob turned and Rory assumed her position. She curled into as tight of a ball as she could and faced away from the door. The slight _whoosh_ of the door opening against the still air and the creaks in the hardwood floor as Lorelai made her way over to her daughter's side made Rory scoot even further away from the edge of her bed.

"Hon," Lorelai said, her tone having changed from amused to serious. "Rory, we need to talk about this."

"Mhm," Rory mumbled without facing her mother.

"Rory."

"Mom."

"Can you turn around, or do pregnant women have to lie on their sides for a specific amount of time now?"

Rory didn't reply.

"Rory, come on." Lorelai knelt at the side of the bed, knowing that climbing in immediately would be too much at first. "I don't want to go to sleep leaving it like this."

"I'm not expecting you to."

"Hey," Lorelai said, assuming a more forceful tone. "No one's giving out any Oscars here, so you can drop the act and maybe talk to me like a normal adult."

"_Normal_ adult?" Rory sat up immediately. " Coming from the woman who _guffawed_ in my face when I told her I was pregnant?"

"I did _not _guffaw!" Lorelai refuted defensively. "Chuckled, maybe. A snort? Here and there, sure, but I did _not_ guffaw."

Rory folded her arms. "This is getting us nowhere. You wanted to talk? So let's do it."

Lorelai sighed heavily and rested her head on the mattress. "Rory, come on. You have to admit, you kind of blindsided me there. How was I supposed to react?"

"Like you."

"Oh please! That was the most like me that I could have been. I didn't do the whole 'get mad at my daughter and send her off to a covenant after giving birth' thing, did I? I kept my cool. To an extent," she added when Rory frowned at her skeptically. "What I'm saying is what happened in that kitchen is totally not the way that _this_ conversation should have gone down."

"'Gone down?'" Rory asked, a bit disgusted.

"You know what I mean." Lorelai looked straight at her daughter and took her hands into hers. They felt just like they did when she was a little girl.

Rory nodded slowly, agreeing with her mother in the end. "But Mom, _you_ have to admit that that was not the way I expected you to react. Of all the people, I expected you to respond normally. I need you now, Mom, and having you laugh at me the moment I tell you that I'm pregnant doesn't do much to assuage my fears for the next nine months."

"I agree with you completely, 'assuage' or not, whatever that means. Oh, baby," she sat on the bed and gave her daughter the warmest hug she could offer. "You're so not ready for this yet."

"I know," Rory sniffled into her mother's shoulder. "But I have you, so I think I'm already a little ahead in the game."

"Yeah, you are." The two women kept hugging for a while after that. Finally, Rory broke the hug and looked directly at her mom.

"I should tell you the whole thing, huh?"

"The beginning wouldn't be a bad place to start," Lorelai said, grabbing another pillow.

* * *

**AN:** I know I haven't updated in a really long time, but I just haven't been able to catch up and manage everything I have going on at once. But I hope you enjoyed this one!


	8. Spring Changes

**LASTING LOVE**:  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls _does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**EIGHT: Spring Changes**

Spring in Stars Hollow was always beautiful. Even now, when it was winding to a close and transitioning gently into the first days of summer, the petals in the rosebushes extended their arms towards the sun in bursts of velvet red and pure white. Front lawns radiated emerald, and not a patch of grass in the entire town square was brown or light beige. Sunlight came down from high above in the crystal blue sky, giving children reason to run about town with popsicles and remote control toys in the streets.

Even Luke's Diner seemed to glow from spring. The new drapes that Lorelai forced upon the windows cast warm shadows everywhere while allowing some beams of light to bring the turquoise painting on the walls to jump with vibrant life. The white of the counter, as old as it was, still gleamed beneath customers' plates. And of all the warm and welcoming aspects of the diner, the owner's unlikely gregariousness was the most noticeable.

"Notice the jump in his step?" Lorelai whispered softly into Rory's ear as she leaned over.

"The pep in his stride?" Rory playfully added.

"By golly, the vim and verve of his swerve!" Lorelai stuffed a forkful of pancake into her mouth.

"His gay gait?" Rory turned towards the kitchen. "Luke, come out here so we can wonder more about the zest in your tread!"

Luke peered out from behind the arch of the kitchen entrance. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Rory said, seeing his occupied face.

"Actually, can you make that nothing an order of chilli fries and onion rings with that blue cheese ranch sauce that you make so well?"

"But it's breakfast!" Luke argued.

Lorelai gestured to the old clock mounted on the wall opposite from her. "Nu-uh. If you would be so kind to look at the clock, mister, you would see that it is approximately thirty seconds until eleven, the time at which your lunch hour commences. And by the time you are done questioning my motives and inhibiting my puzzling palate, it will be lunch time and I can legally order my fries and rings!"

Rory stifled a laugh and Luke simply rolled his eyes. "Fine. Have it your way. But you better not come crying to me when Rory loses her appetite." He went off to cut some potatoes.

Rory looked at her mother alarmingly, her eyes wide in concern. "Lose my appetite? You didn't tell Luke, did you?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No. But I did tell him that you had a stomach flu of some kind, which explains the endless vomiting."

"Whew." Rory wiped a small pool of syrup on her plate with the remaining chunk of her blueberry pancake before putting it into her mouth.

"Satisfied yet, _la gorda_?"

"Obviously not," Rory said, eyeing her plate longingly. "Damn Luke and his guarantee of one hundred percent fresh fries!"

It had been a week since Rory and Lorelai had their conversation in Rory's bedroom. In that time, the subject matter had not been touched extensively, but it had become just supplementary knowledge that didn't seem to matter at the moment. There was a mutual understanding between the two, but nothing else. As far as anyone who might have been keeping tabs on them was concerned, Rory might as well have had the stomach flu after all.

"Hmm, while we wait…" Lorelai pulled a sugar packet from the little ceramic canister near her. "Want to play the sugar packet game?"

Rory eyed her mother suspiciously. "What sugar packet game?"

"You know, that one sugar packet game we used to play when you were a kid," Lorelai explained. "The way it works is that one of us gets to ask the other a question and when you answer, you get to eat a sugar packet as a reward. See? Sweet and gratifying."

"You made that up, didn't you?" Rory asked.

"Just as you cut into your first sausage, missy," Lorelai admitted. "But come on! You won't let me talk about it and you won't let me ask questions. I haven't used the mother card up until this point because I've been treating this situation like we would treat it as friends. But if I have to pull the ugly, tacky, sitcom-watching card from out of my back pocket, then so help me Donna Reed, I'll do it."

"Shh!" Rory was frantic. "Keep it quiet! I don't want Luke to know! Didn't we just establish this like, a second ago?"

"I don't know," Lorelai said. "I'm not so good with remembering when I'm trying to be _persistent._"

Rory sighed. "Fine. What do you want? And keep quiet!"

"Okay. First of all…are you still…you know?"

"You mean am I still _pregnant_?" she whispered. "What kind of question is that?"

"I don't know!" Lorelai exclaimed defensively again. "A lot can happen to something in a week when you don't talk about it. Just like when you want this one CD but you don't talk about it, so it's off your mind and eventually, you just don't want it anymore."

"I'm pretty sure this isn't like a CD, Mom."

"A 'yes' would have done, I hope you know. Okay, well, when are you going to tell Dean?"

Rory's eyes turned in all different directions. She was uncomfortable. And she clearly had been anticipating this question.

"Rory?"

She groaned. "I don't know. Maybe I don't want him to know!"

"Hey!" Lorelai exclaimed warningly. "No single-mother _Lifetime_ baby-daddy stories here. "

"Mom, I don't know. And I haven't even seen Dean around recently. For all I know, he's gone again."

"Nope. He works at Doose's again. Promoted to inventory and produce, you know."

"Working there for eight years sure can get you places."

"Rory. Come on. You're going to have to, soon."

"Soon," Rory emphasized. "But until then, do you think we could not talk about him? I said we could talk about the thing itself. But not the guy that caused the thing."

"Thing-thing-thing-a-ling?"

"Mom!"

"I'm sorry!" Lorelai said. "Just lots of things floating about. Mm, dirty."

"Does this have a point?" Rory asked.

"Okay fine. Moving on. When are you getting your first check up?"

"Today, actually," Rory replied casually.

Lorelai freaked out. "What do you mean 'today'? _This_ is the kind of thing a daughter would tell her mother after telling her she's going to pop one out in nine months! _This_ is the kind of thing a daughter would tell her mother so that her mother can take secret pictures to put in the secret pregnancy-album that will be shamelessly pink in color, regardless of boy, girl, or transgender!"

"Transgender?" Luke asked, coming to the counter with a steaming pile of fried food. He had his dip in his other hand. "Who are we talking about?"

"Cher," Lorelai said. "And you still haven't told us why you're so happy!"

Luke smiled widely. "I'll tell _you_ later. But I actually wanted to talk to Rory really quick. You know, there are some job opportunities around town and people are asking me to ask her."

"Um, okay," Rory said nervously, standing up and looking at her mother, terrified. "We'll be back in a moment, Mom." But Lorelai was already distracted with her oily goodness to even bother replying.

Once they were outside, Luke shut the diner door behind him carefully and led Rory more towards the street and near the bushes. Rory was nervous the entire time.

"Luke? What is this?"

Luke looked around very suspiciously, making sure that no one was around that could hear anything he would say in the next couple minutes. He made Rory even more uncomfortable to the point that she felt as though she could spew a fountain of vomit any second. Finally, he leaned in.

"Rory, I've got something pretty big I want to ask you."

"Yeah?" Rory folded her arms tightly against her chest to keep any of her nausea from getting out. "What – what is it?"

"Are you ready?"

"Well, if you brought me out here just to ask me if I'm ready then…yes, Luke, I'm ready."

Luke laughed at Rory's blatantly terrible joke, causing Rory to back away from him just a little bit; she had never, in recent recollection or from long-term memory, seen Luke this happy and excited. It was unsettling. It was creepy.

"Rory…I want to know if I have your permission to ask your mother to marry me."

A little bulge of vomit lodged itself immediately in Rory's throat. She swallowed hard and remained silent for a while, taking into consideration what she just heard.

"Rory?"

"Marry?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"What?"

"I mean…why are you asking me?" Rory was still fighting hard to keep the nausea at bay. "I mean, you guys got engaged three years ago without asking me, so why is it any different now, other than the fact that Mom and I are talking?"

"That's exactly why," Luke said gruffly. "It seems a lot more appropriate now to ask for your permission. There's no one else Lorelai would turn to for advice, and if you give your okay, then I'm sure she'll be good to go with it. What do you think?"

"Well, I've never heard you sound this…enthusiastic about something, Luke. Maybe a growl here and a bark there, but nothing remotely human. No offense."

"None taken," Luke said. "Strong genetics on my dad's side."

Rory nodded. "Hmm, well, it's been a year since you guys started going out again, and it's been two years of relationship before that, and my entire lifetime of friendship before that. I think that makes you entitled not only to being her husband, but also entitled to a therapist of some sort for being around her so long."

"So you approve?" Luke's eyes gleamed in a way that seemed unnatural compared to the rest of his outward appearance.

"Of course, I do," Rory said. "I'd be stupid if I didn't. You know, we should really get back in there. You know what Mom can do when she's left all alone with a platter of food. Caesar might need reinforcements by now."

Luke smiled widely and gave Rory a hug. It didn't feel uncomfortable this time. It was, in a way, more paternal. He let go and went inside, leaving Rory a moment to think outside.

Marriage. Pregnancy.

Rory sighed. So much was changing.

* * *

**AN:** I really like that Lorelai has her own thing going on, too. It just wouldn't be GG if the entire story was focused on Rory, or vice versa. Read and review!


	9. Let's Talk

**LASTING LOVE**:  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls _does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**NINE: Let's Talk**

Rory walked back into the diner. Luke disappeared into the kitchen once more. Meanwhile, she noticed that her mother, who was sitting on one of the barstools against the counter, was hunched over in a tight, almost clenched, sort of position – it was her defensive stance, she would say.

"Okay, okay!" Lorelai wailed into the phone, loud enough to cause Rory to stop walking. "She's not here, but when she is I'll tell her!"

There was a pause, and Rory took this as an opportunity to sit back down next to her mother.

"Yeah, I know," Lorelai grumbled. "I don't – I mean, it's a little short – no, not short-noticed, I mean right on time. Yeah. Friday then." With that, she snapped her cell phone closed and gave Rory one of her most repugnant glares ever.

"Do you see what happens when you or Luke leave me even for a _second_?"

"Who was that?" But a part of Rory already knew the answer.

"Who do you _think_?" Lorelai's face had lost all of its previous good-hearted warmth from ten minutes ago. "It was your grandmother, and, lo and behold, she expects us to come to dinner Friday night."

"How did she even know that I was back?"

"One of the women working on the committee beneath you got promoted to your bus seat. She called her mother, Olivia Hepburn, and told her about her promotion. And of all coincidences, Olivia is on the D.A.R. with none other than Emily Gilmore. _That's_ how she found out. I'm surprised that you even had to ask."

Rory sighed heavily. "I forgot that Grandma knew everything."

"Not everything," Lorelai said, gesturing to Rory's stomach. "Dealing with Friday night dinner is one thing. Dealing with _that_ is something else entirely. And the sooner you nip it in the bud, the better."

Rory shook her head. "Let's deal with my sonogram appointment first, and then we can discuss how to avoid telling Grandma."

"_Avoiding_ her?" Lorelai asked curiously as they stood up. "My, what a wiser woman pregnancy has made you."

Rory glared at her mom.

* * *

"It looks a little bit like a lima bean, don't you think?" Lorelai held up Rory's first sonogram picture to the sunlight. "I hate lima beans, but this is probably the cutest one that I've ever seen."

Rory ignored Lorelai. "I want a cheeseburger."

"My god," Lorelai remarked. "Must you feed constantly? You're going to end up gaining more weight than I did when I was pregnant with you. And trust me, anything you wear afterwards will _not_ be kind to you."

"Well, you're the one talking about lima beans. It's not my fault that I'm hungry."

"This is your baby that I'm talking about. Please don't tell me that you you'll end up being one of those mothers who eat their children as soon as they're born. I'll order you a pizza the day of your delivery, if I have to."

Rory grabbed the sonogram away from Lorelai as soon as they hit a red light. "Okay, anything food related is off-limits to talk about. Pick a new subject please."

Lorelai scratched her chin in a falsely curious manner. "Let's see…Dean or Emily Gilmore? Make your decision."

"Neither," Rory said.

"Those are the rules."

"Well, this game sucks."

"Dean it is!" Lorelai exclaimed excitedly. "Now, for the million dollar question: when do you plan on telling him?"

"I'll just take my money and leave, Meredith."

"Seriously, hon. You can't put this off forever. First comes Dean, then comes Emily, _then_ comes the baby in the baby carriage. You have to do all the stuff in the middle first."

"I thought you already asked me this at Luke's," Rory groaned.

"To no avail," Lorelai reminded her. "Now I really need to know the answer to that question, Rory. With Dean as the father he has a right to know, especially since you've decided to keep the baby. He's not going to take it so well when you show up at his doorstep nine months pregnant, tell him, and then plop it out at his feet."

"First of all, _gross_, and second of all, I'm going to tell him. I was thinking that I might ask him out to dinner or something and tell him then."

"Dinner?" Lorelai seemed unconvinced.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, there aren't many places in Stars Hollow that you could eat at and get away with telling him that you're pregnant. And dinner doesn't seem like such an appropriate thing to do. It's like you're cushioning the blow."

"I thought that was the point."

"Listen, honey, the best thing to do in this situation is to have a mature, grownup talk with him. It doesn't have to be over dinner and it doesn't have to be over anything else. You just need to sit him down in some sort of familiar environment where both of you feel comfortable. That way, once you tell him, it's like both of you can go on back to your normal lives. Plus, you'll have proven to him that this baby doesn't have to change a lot right now."

Rory absorbed all of Lorelai's advice.

"So, no dinner?" Rory asked finally.

"No dinner," Lorelai confirmed. "Save dinner for the Gilmores. Tell them over brisket, and then leave the uncomfortable silence for dessert."

Rory nodded aggressively. "That settles it then." Suddenly, Rory made a sharp left that sent Lorelai reeling against the window.

"What the – Rory! What're you doing?"

"Grownup," Rory whispered. "Grownup. Grownup. Grownup."

"Okay, so you're demon-Rory right now. How am I supposed to handle that?"

"Mom, I'm going to handle _this_ right now. Just give me a moment or two." Rory parked the car abruptly and Lorelai noticed that they were in front of Doose's.

"Oh god, no. Rory, don't do this. Not right now. You need to calm down."

"I am calm," Rory assured her mom. "I just don't want any more of this worry building up in me. I just had a sonogram, if you recall. That means it's _really_ happening. And that means that I have to tell Dean that I have something of his growing inside something of mine. Now is the best time." Before she let Lorelai say anything else, she opened the car door and left, slamming it behind her.

Rory entered the grocery store with an odd combination of determination and senselessness coursing through her veins. It was a familiar feeling, but this time, it wasn't because she had had too much coffee. Taylor saw her from a nearby cash register and waved to her.

"Rory Gilmore, as I live and breathe! Back to your humble beginnings, I see. Back in little old Stars Hollow and away from the big, scary world of reporters and journalists." In his monologue-mode, he had neglected his line of customers. "It's like I said: no matter how successful you get, you can never forget the people who helped you there. You're one of us, after all!"

"No time for that, Taylor," Rory said hurriedly, brushing him aside. "Where's your inventory and produce boy?"

"Dean Forrester?" he asked with a curious expression, sending a torrent of whispers up the line of paying customers. "He's probably in the storage room, but you can't get in there without -"

"Thanks, Taylor!"

Rory darted down the nearest aisle and saw Dean putting cans of soda in one of the coolers. He was too busy marking down how many grape sodas he was putting away to notice that she was standing there like an idiot in the middle of the aisle. But this was familiar environment for the both of them, just as her mother said. But everything else she advised her, she forgot. She felt nervous all of a sudden, like it was eight years ago again. But she realized she had no time to think or to consider things, especially if her plan to escape as soon as she can and live in regret at home was going to come to fruition.

"Dean!"

"Rory?" He nearly dropped the two cans in his hands. "What are you doing here?"

"Where have you been?" Rory asked stupidly, her thoughts colliding with each other at such a rapid pace in her head that she could barely speak.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused. "I've been here, working. Why? Were you looking for me?"

"No! I mean…no! I haven't been looking for you! Why would I be looking for you? It's a big town! I have many other people that I could be looking for! You aren't the only person in Stars Hollow, you know!"

"Okay…" Dean was unsure of how to reply. "Want a free pop?"

Rory felt like she was sixteen again and he was about to lean in with a surprise for her. But no. This time, she was the one with the surprise.

"No, thanks. I just wanted to come here to tell you that I am carrying something of yours."

"Did you take something from my hotel room or something?"

"No," Rory answered angrily. "I'm pregnant!"

All of a sudden, Rory realized the gravity of what she had just said. Instead of following up with anything to say, she simply ignored Dean's dumbfounded expression, whirled around, and ran away. She exited the store as Taylor called after her. She jumped into her car and stepped on the gas before Lorelai could do so much as to ask her first question.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry for such a late update, but I've been kind of busy and I just now got around to Rory's story again. I hope you liked the chapter, because I really wanted to focus on a chapter with Rory and Lorelai just...talking, with Lorelai finally giving Rory some well-said advice. Read and review!


	10. It's a Good Thing

**LASTING LOVE:  
**Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls _does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**TEN: It's a Good Thing**

"And then you said?"

"I said, 'No. I'm pregnant!' Then I ran out like an escaped prisoner."

"Maybe more along the lines of an escaped _asylum_ prisoner."

"Let's leave the mentally deranged out of this perhaps? And maybe you could stop making me relive it over and over and _over_ again."

Lorelai shrugged. "Sorry. I'm just having a hard time understanding your motives these days. Pregnancy has not been kind to you so far."

"Yeah, no kidding." Rory took a sip from her third mug of decaffeinated herbal tea. "Is Luke at all curious as to why I'm having tea so much? Much less decaffeinated?"

Lorelai took a heaping bite of her pancakes. "I told him that you were still a little rattled leaving your job and stuff. And, you know, that you've been off your meds lately."

"Cruel, cruel lady."

Lorelai signaled to Rory's untouched plate of pancakes. "I thought you were perpetually hungry these days. What gives?"

"Not in the mood to eat, I guess," Rory said wearily. "I must've peaked with the cake we ate last night at Weston's last night."

"Ah yes," Lorelai said dreamily. "Our finest creation yet. Chocolate cake with chocolate cake batter ice cream drizzled in a variety of syrups from hot fudge to caramel to butterscotch, covered from top to bottom in sprinkles and frosting with four cherries on top."

"Not to mention the two complimentary cupcakes that you got for flirting with the new cashier they have there."

"A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do for some sweets, hon."

Rory shuddered. "Yeah, well I'm swearing off food for now."

Lorelai grabbed Rory's plate. "I speak for every other ravenous pregnant woman on this planet when I say that I will think of you as I eat this."

"Gross."

Lorelai looked up at Rory from her plate. "I didn't think I'd be asking this question again, but are you going to talk to Dean any time soon?"

Rory nearly choked. "What? I thought I already covered that."

"Obviously not! You can't just bolt after telling him that you're pregnant. You ignored the most important half of the conversation: the one where you decide how to handle the situation."

"Damn. I don't know. Maybe I'll deal with Grandma and Grandpa first. They're a little easier to handle."

"In what world?"

"I don't know. I thought you said it yourself: my motives are all whack right now!"

"Yeah, and so is your vocabulary."

"Whatever," Rory grumbled. "Just tell me what the plan of action is."

Lorelai took another bite of pancake. "Okay. You go home for your nap while I go around town to run errands."

"Do I _need_ to take a daily nap? I'm not even that tired."

"Hush!" Lorelai said, putting a hand up. "What did I tell you about disobeying the Bible?"

"That God will smite me?"

"No, not that one! _What to Expect When You're Expecting._ And what does the Bible say about you in your expecting condition?"

"That it would be a good habit to start taking daily naps…" Rory grumbled again. "This baby-making thing is a lot more complex than I thought it would be."

Lorelai ignored her. "So, after that nap, I will wake you up and we will proceed onto the most exciting part of the day: picking an outfit for Friday night dinner. I'm guessing that'll take us an hour or more, so I gave us two hours to complain about my wardrobe and to munch on snacks in between. After that comes the bad part."

"Friday night dinner," Rory groaned. "What a god-awful tradition. And it's all your fault, too!"

"Me?" Lorelai asked incredulously. "How is it my fault?"

"You were the one who promised them more Friday night dinners after I left last year. Why didn't you just cut off connection with them once and for all?"

"I couldn't do that!" Lorelai argued defensively. "Did you hear what Emily was planning? She wanted to add _tennis courts_ to my inn, Rory. And a spa. It was either Friday night dinners or a business partnership with the Gilmores."

"Just finish your pancakes," Rory grumbled.

Lorelai frowned.

* * *

Lorelai Gilmore was a complicated woman. Although everyone appreciated and loved her, they also knew that she was a woman who came with baggage. Lots of it. She was a wonderful person to be around and an overall amazing friend, but everyone knew that when it came right down to it, Lorelai was not without her problems. And whenever it seemed like Lorelai had finally found her happy ending, something always came around to steal it away from her.

Getting pregnant at sixteen wasn't exactly a great start on the road to adulthood. But if anything, it only made her grow up faster. Being a mother to Rory wasn't a chore for Lorelai; it was something she enjoyed. If anything, she had a pretty easy time as a mother. Rory was the opposite of a problem child, the opposite of Lorelai.

However, having an easy time in raising Rory did not mean having an easy time in raising herself. Love never came easily for Lorelai. Christopher Hayden, the longest and most turbulent chapter in her life, brought her some of the happiest moments in her life as well as some of the most heartbreaking. No one could deny Lorelai's incredible effort to make the relationship work. Love came and went and eventually, so did Christopher.

Lorelai's chances at true love and adult relationships came so tantalizingly close with every relationship she had, only to be taken away from her. Max and Jason were her two real big shots at love before Luke ever came along. Max taught her the lesson of wanting more than she could handle, and the end of their relationship reflected that. With Jason, on the other hand, she felt more like she was going around in circles than anything else. She wanted stability and Jason couldn't offer that to her.

But when Luke finally came around, it seemed she had it all figured out. She had the relationship that everyone wanted…and everyone wanted for her. She found the perfect compromise between functional adult relationship and getting-to-be-immature-and-still-have-date-nights relationship. Luke was a solid man and in spite of all their misgivings, they managed to work it out. It might have taken more than just a couple years to get to where they were now, but what mattered was that they were there together. Lorelai figured that once Rory was out of college and ready to start a life of her own, she could do the same. After all, the two grew up together and now, they could start living life together…apart.

But now, Lorelai had all these doubts in her mind. Rory was pregnant – and she still felt like she hadn't completely grasped the concept. She would have to help her…she would have to put her daughter's future ahead of her own once again. She never resented Rory for it, but she resented herself. Here she was, always doing the helping for others and never helping herself. Luke could only wait so long and now, she felt like Rory's timing couldn't have come at a worse time…

"Lorelai!"

She whirled around as several cars honked at her. She realized she was in the middle of the street when she decided to stop. She ran quickly to the nearest sidewalk and looked around for the voice. Across the street, she saw Dean and almost ran away; she didn't want to have this conversation.

"Lorelai!" Dean repeated again from across the street.

"I hear you, Dean! Come here!"

Dean ran across to where she was after making sure that there were no other cars in the street. He was haggard; he looked as if he didn't sleep the entire night. Lorelai couldn't blame him, especially after the big whopper Rory dropped on him.

"Where's Rory?"

Lorelai folded her arms. "Look, Dean, I'm not sure talking to Rory right now is a good-"

"Lorelai, _please_," Dean begged. "I need to talk to her. I have no idea what's going on and Rory is the only one who can calm me down."

Lorelai grabbed Dean's arm and led him to a bench near them. They sat down together in silence for a couple moments, neither one sure what to say. When Dean started taking deeper breaths, Lorelai figured it was safe to start talking again.

"Look, Dean, Rory is handling this one day at a time. We all are. The fact that she told you is a big step in that handling process. You're not the only one confused here; Rory has no idea what she's doing either."

"It's not fair, though. You get to know everything. She just sprung it on me like that and she expects me to just deal with it, too? I don't get it. We don't talk for weeks and next thing you know, she's in Doose's telling me all of this!"

"Okay, I know that Rory's method of telling you wasn't exactly subtle, but you have to understand that Rory is having difficulty trying to figure everything out at the same time that she the only way she could tell you _was_ that way. And I only get to know everything because I'm her mother; it comes with the job. Trust me – when I found out for the first time, too, I wasn't as calm as I am right now."

Dean sighed heavily. "I wish she would just talk to me. I wish I could just see her."

Lorelai patted his back awkwardly. "Dean, it's only been a day. Nothing big has happened. You still have seven months to figure everything out!"

Dean sighed miserably.

Lorelai looked at him directly. "You love Rory, right?"

Dean nodded. "Of course!"

"Well, if you love Rory, you need to just back down for now. Rory _will_ come to you eventually. She can only do so much and _I _can only do so much. Do yourself a favor and take the time you have right now to try and figure things out on your own. Try and figure out how you'll help. You don't want to be unprepared when you and Rory finally talk; that'll only scare her more."

Dean nodded again, looking completely miserable.

Lorelai stood up. She didn't want to leave him sitting there feeling this way. She tried to come up with the best thing to say to him.

"Dean…this is a good thing." She smiled at him. "It may not seem like it now and it might not even seem like it in the next couple of months, but this is a really good thing. I was sixteen when I was pregnant, Dean. And you've met Rory. Trust me – it's a good thing."

Dean stood up and gave Lorelai a deep hug. The two smiled at each other before they parted. Lorelai kept going along to finish her errands.

_Lorelai Gilmore, lives to serve_. She sighed.

* * *

**AN: **Sorry for the late update again! But I know where this story is going, so have no fear! Hope you liked it! Read and review as always!


	11. Not Prepared

**LASTING LOVE:  
**Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls _does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**ELEVEN: Not Prepared**

Lorelai didn't bother talking to Rory about the conversation she had with Dean the other day. She figured that her daughter already had enough on her mind. Plus, they had decided that Dean was a taboo topic until Rory had decided how to handle the situation. At the same time, Rory didn't want to bother informing her mother about Luke's plans to propose to her. She knew it wasn't her place, as Luke's prospective stepdaughter, to ruin the surprise for Lorelai. Yet at the same time, being Lorelai's daughter and best friend, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that it would be the right thing to do. But whatever internal conflictions the two felt, they both forgot them in preparation for what was sure to be one of the most emotionally exhausting evenings of their lives – Friday night dinner.

By now, they were trying to put the upcoming evening into perspective by suggesting some of the worst Friday night dinners they'd had over the years.

"What about the time that you told Grandma that you and Max were getting married and she didn't care?" Rory suggested, as she tried on one of her mom's blouses.

"What about the one where Dean and your grandpa got into an argument?" Lorelai said as she applied mascara.

"What about when Grandma and Grandpa tried setting Dad up with the therapist that you ended up talking to all night long?"

"Yeah, well how about when you invited Jess and he acted like a first class jerk to your grandma?"

Rory sighed miserably. "Why do all of mine involve boyfriends?"

"Tonight's no exception either, hon."

Rory looked at herself in the mirror. "What am I going to tell them? They're going to ask me all about the campaign trail and they're going to ask me all these questions about where I'm going next and what am I going to be able to say? All I can tell them is that I'm pregnant and as soon as I say that, I'll have shattered all of their dreams and expectations. Tonight, I'm the Dream Killer."

"Kickass superhero name, I won't lie," Lorelai offered humorously. "But really, there's not much else you can say. You're going to have to be straightforward with them – there's no other way to swing around this, kid."

"Do you think they'll understand?"

"The Gilmores? Of course not. I wouldn't be surprised if they kicked us out of the mansion as soon as they found out. Might as well just tell them as soon as we get through the door so that we don't have to go through the entire evening. Hey, there's an idea…"

"I don't want to make them _hate_ me," Rory said, sounding almost like a child.

Lorelai sighed. "They can't hate you. They'll never be able to hate you. You're their Rory. You're _theirs_. And whatever little blunders you have in life, they'll always have something in mind for you."

"But this isn't a little blunder," Rory said, pointing to her stomach. "This is permanent."

"And it'll work out for you, honey. Being a mother isn't going to stop you from becoming anything."

Rory took one more look in the mirror and tried picturing the reflection she saw just a couple months ago, and the reflection she would be seeing in the future.

"I hope not."

* * *

"Rory Gilmore!" Richard beamed and gave Rory a hearty hug as soon as they stepped into the foyer.

"Welcome back, Rory! We're so _thrilled_!" Emily exclaimed from the side, observing her granddaughter in admiration.

"Congratulations on your return, Ms. Gilmore," whispered their Norwegian maid as she collected their coats.

Rory was all smiles once she had hugged everyone, even the jostled maid. As much as she had been dreading this night, she couldn't deny that she missed her grandparents. They were such a big part of her life. Even Lorelai couldn't suppress a smile as she saw the light that illuminated her daughter's face. For a brief, hopeful moment, she thought that tonight might even be okay.

"Come, come, into the dining room everyone!" Emily said excitedly. "Let's head straight to dinner so Rory can tell us everything that's happened!"

Lorelai was confused. "What about the drink, Mom?"

"One of the maids got horridly drunk last week and drank the contents of the entire drink cart," Emily said irritably. "They pumped her stomach and we fired her. Plus, Haldis got excited when I finally let her cook pot roast for tonight that she prepared the meal an entire hour ahead of time."

"Haldis?" Rory asked.

"The maid," Richard explained. "The agency sent her directly to us after we expressed interest in a good cook who knew how to prepare fish. She makes a mean pickled herring."

Lorelai and Rory simply nodded as they were ushered into the dining room, which already smelled of excellent pot roast. The familiar place setting awaited them, with four glasses of wine set at each seat and a plate of leafy greens placed beside them. Everyone sat down in their familiar, designated places and they were in full Friday night dinner mode.

"So…" Richard said, obviously excited to get to the bulk of the evening. "Rory! Tell us everything!"

"_Everything_," Emily added eagerly. "It's been such a bore around the house for the past year and we've hardly had any excitement in our lives that we need to hear it straight from you. How's the world these days?" Is it everything you wanted it to be?"

Rory cleared her throat. "It wasn't the _world_, you guys – it was just America. And it was beautiful out there. I've gone through so many states that I wouldn't mind living in and I've seen so many places that I definitely want to go back to."

"Then why come back?" Richard asked.

"Richard!" Emily said warningly. "You might give the girl the impression you don't want her back here! Trust me, Rory, that's not what your grandfather meant."

"Of course it's not what I meant!" Richard said defensively. "What I simply meant, Rory, was that it seems you cut your traipse across the nation short. There's still so much left out there that you could have hardly covered in the span of a year, especially when you were as busy as you were dealing with the Obama campaign. I would have expected you would have had at least another year in you."

Rory nodded humbly. "I think America got to be too big for me in just one year, especially right after college. I'm definitely going to go back out there; I'm not done yet. But right now, I think I just need a break, a pretty long break. I need to take some time to consider what I want in life."

"What you want in life?" Emily asked curiously. "Of course you know what you want in life already! You're going to be a journalist! You're going to write and write and write!"

Lorelai took a large sip of her wine, sympathetic to Rory's inability to do so as well. "Mom, Rory just needs to rest. She's been going nonstop ever since kindergarten."

Emily shook her head. "No, you can't possibly slow down, Rory. You already took that break from Yale and you can't afford to lose momentum again. From everyone I've talked to, college graduates need to get their feet wet immediately. If they don't, then they'll never find that spark of inspiration that they need, and Rory, you've got so much potential!"

Rory laughed nervously. "I've gone on a presidential campaign trail. I think that's a lot of momentum already to steer me in the right direction."

"Rory's doing well for herself right now, Mom."

As much as Emily wanted to say more, Richard decided to step in. "Well, what do you plan on doing right now, then?"

Rory looked at her mom nervously, and Lorelai just gave her a sympathetic glance. Thankfully, Haldis came in with plates of pot roast, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables for everyone at the table. But as soon as the salad had been traded for the steaming plates of real food, the inevitable conversation restarted itself.

"Well, Rory?" Richard pressed again.

"Mm?" Rory murmured with pot roast in her mouth.

"What do you see yourself doing now, or in the next couple of months?"

Rory swallowed hard. "Well, I was actually planning on just staying with Mom for the next couple of months. But I probably won't start looking for a job until a couple more months or so…"

"Why the delay?" Emily pushed. "If you need a stepping stone of sorts, you'll always have the DAR girls – they'll want to help you. If you want to write for the newsletter during your break so that you'll actually do some writing, then you're more than welcome to do so. In fact, Gloria Scott informed me of an opening on the writing staff just recently! I should give her a call for you."

Rory shook her head respectfully. "It's alright, Grandma. If I'm going to do any sort of writing from here on in, then I want it to be serious writing, nothing fuller…with all due respect to the DAR newsletter, of course. And as much as I love writing, I think a break would be good right now."

Lorelai could sense that Rory was trying to delay the news by overemphasizing her need for a break without giving a reason for it. Richard was more respectful of Rory, not wanting to pry into her business or her reasoning for anything. But Emily was a different story.

"A break from what, exactly? You have everything going for you right now, Rory, so it would almost be like throwing away everything you've worked for in the past years."

Rory shuffled from side to side uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, Grandma…there's something I've actually been meaning to bring up to you. You _and_ Grandpa."

"Oh?"Richard sat up in his seat, thankful to be part of the conversation again.

"What do you need to tell us?" Emily inquired, glancing sideways at Lorelai as though she expected her to keep her mouth shut.

"I'm not quite sure how to say any of this, to be honest," Rory said softly. "I'm still trying to sort through things by myself right now and everything is still up in the air, which is part of the reason I need a break. So it would be really appreciated, _really_ appreciated, if you didn't say anything immediately. And it would be even more appreciated if you didn't necessarily question things right away…at least not until I have everything figured out myself."

Emily and Richard looked worried.

"This kind of talk scares us, Rory," Emily said. "What is it?"

Rory sighed deeply. "You have to keep in mind that this isn't the reason I came back home. Trust me; I didn't sacrifice my job for anything. I left because I wanted to and anything else, like what I'm about to tell you, didn't happen until _after_ I came back home."

Emily and Richard exchanged looks once more.

"Rory, go on, please," Richard urged.

Rory looked at her mom one last time before stepping off the edge of the cliff. When all Lorelai could offer was a slight nod of the head, she took a deep breath and prepared herself for the most important and life changing announcement she would ever give her grandparents.

"Grandma…Grandpa…I'm going to have a baby."

An immediate silence descended on the room. Because of Rory's initial warning, no one had anything to say. Lorelai almost closed her eyes as an immediate response to avoid having to deal with the undoubtedly shocked and horrified looks on Emily and Richard Gilmores' faces. Instead, she finished her glass of wine in a single drink while Emily and Richard sat up straight in their chairs. Their eyes and mouths bulged and widened in surprise as Rory sat in immediate regret following her announcement. And once a few moments passed, they all stared remorsefully at their empty plates, all in similar understanding that whether she had told them this night, the next, or whenever else, it would never be told at the right time.

Richard was the first one to do anything. He stood up and stared directly at Rory, avoiding Lorelai and Emily.

"I apologize, but I've lost my appetite. I'll be in the office." And with that he turned on his heel and left.

Rory stood up next, obviously aware that dessert wouldn't be happening any time soon.

"I'm sorry, but I need some air. I'll be outside"

She stood there for a couple moments, waiting for Emily's objection. But it never came, so she left just as her grandfather left.

As soon as she heard the main door close, Emily turned sharply to Lorelai, her expression a combination of immense sadness as well as resentfulness.

"What happened to that girl, Lorelai? What did you let her do?"

Lorelai knew almost at once that Emily's first response would be to blame her.

"I did nothing, Mom. She told me after she got home that she was pregnant. She found out in Stars Hollow! I didn't do anything. She was gone for a year, if you remember!" She winced a bit at how detached she was making herself out to be.

"You're her _mother_, Lorelai! Who gives a damn if she's on a bus somewhere in the middle of the country? The point is things _happen_ out there and you didn't prepare her for any of this!"

"Didn't prepare her?" Lorelai asked incredulously. "I've spent the past twenty-three years preparing Rory for everything, so don't tell me that she wasn't prepared. I never _once_ hid anything from her. She left home knowing everything that I could have possibly offered her!"

"Then perhaps you just didn't have enough to offer," Emily seethed. "Just look at what's happened now."

Lorelai fought back tears; moments like this always got her emotional.

"If I didn't have enough to offer her as a mother, then maybe it's because _you_ didn't have enough to offer me as a mother either." She stood up to leave.

"Maybe I could have offered more if you had just done your job and been my daughter!" Emily was furious.

"It wasn't a _job_," Lorelai reminded her. "It was a decision made for me." She turned to leave.

"Don't be such a drama queen!" Emily called after her, leaving the dinner table as well. "If you didn't overreact to everything, then maybe this family wouldn't be so broken!"

Lorelai turned to face her mother straight in the face, tears already building at the corners of her eyes. "This family was already broken to begin with! And now I'm leaving with the family that _I_ helped save."

She opened the door, surprising Rory outside, who was sitting against a fence in the cool air.

"Are we leaving?" Rory asked innocently, seeing the furious looks on her mother and grandmother's faces.

Lorelai simply nodded and nearly tore the car door open, suggesting that Rory follow suit. And as they pulled out of the driveway, Rory gave her grandmother, who was standing sullenly in the doorway, the most apologetic look she could offer.

* * *

**AN: **I can't believe it, but it's been basically five months since I updated. In between that time, my computer had to be rebooted/reset, so I lost everything that I had for _Lasting Love_. I got swamped with other work, so I never had the opportunity to restart writing, but that time has now manifested itself into this chapter. Hopefully all of you who loved it five months ago are still reading it and still love it!


	12. Candlelit Paper Bags

**LASTING LOVE:**  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls _does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**TWELVE: Candlelit Paper Bags**

After a small silence, Lorelai continued again. "I can't _believe_ her. She can't even be civil long enough to maybe consider the fact that nothing is anyone's fault. She just _has_ to put the blame on someone. Classic Emily Gilmore. Classic."

Rory shook her head. "Mom, we're back in Stars Hollow. Do you mind if we just don't talk about it for a while?"

Lorelai grumbled. "Fine. But you don't understand just how _angry_ that woman makes me. She finds out she's going to be a great-grandmother, and her natural reaction is to point fingers. You know what, that must be it. She probably can't stand the thought of being someone's great-grand-anything, because it goes to show how ancient she is, and this is how she copes with it. She throws out reality and substitutes it with her ignorance."

"Mom! I asked you already!"

"Fine! I just thought you'd be more understanding seeing as she's being as unreasonable as ever! It's _your_ baby, not mine."

Rory sighed. "I know! Don't you think I feel bad enough for causing all of this already? Making you and Grandma fight?"

"Oh, Rory, that's not what I meant," Lorelai hurriedly explained. "Your grandmother was bound to act like this anyway – it wasn't the fact that you're having a baby. You could have told her that Pluto was still a planet and she would have acted this way. Some things you just can't change, honey. Believe me, I've tried."

"I don't care. The fact is, I was the bigger person and I told her. I've done my part as the granddaughter. She can choose to do whatever she wants with the news now. Her and Grandpa, for that matter. If they're going to brush me aside, then so be it. I'm an adult, anyway. I don't _need_ grandparents."

"Oh, catty Rory," Lorelai noted. "I like it. You don't need grandparents, and you certainly don't need _those _ones. But don't be so quick to brush them off either, honey. They still might have some purpose. You never know."

"Whatever." Rory sighed heavily.

Lorelai thought for a moment. "You know what I realized? We never really got to eat. And I'm kind of hungry."

"Really? I kind of lost my appetite back there."

"But we're _Gilmores_. We're always hungry! And you're pregnant, so you should be doubly hungry! So the fact that I'm hungry and you're pregnant but not hungry makes doubly less sense."

"Well, I'm not hungry, so you can bake some tots or something at home," Rory suggested.

Suddenly, a small ringing came from Rory's purse. She burrowed through the mess and pulled out her phone, which was vibrating in accordance to the tinny ringing.

"Hello?" Rory answered. "Oh, hey… No, we had Friday night dinner, but we came back early because the grandparents weren't feeling too well…No, it's okay, I'm not busy…Uh, okay...I guess…Yeah, sure…Okay, I'll just talk to you later. Bye."

Rory hung up the phone and looked a little flushed after doing so.

"Who was it?" Lorelai asked.

Rory was slow to respond.

"Uh…Lane."

"What'd she want?"

"Oh, uh, she wanted to know if I…wanted to come over and watch a movie with her and the boys, yeah. But then she realized that I must be tired or whatever, so she just took a rain check."

"Oh, that's nice of her. I haven't seen Lane in forever."

"Yeah," Rory sympathized. "Hey, actually, now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry. Want to grab something on the way?"

Lorelai eyed Rory suspiciously. "Are you sure that wasn't your stomach that called you and brought you to your senses?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "That's _exactly_ what that phone call was. Well, I'm hungry and I think you are, too, so either we make this decision now and get food or we starve together."

"Hmm, where would we go though?"

"Luke's is open, right?"

"I think it's closed…Luke mentioned something about an early delivery tomorrow morning, so he has to go to sleep early. He's probably already back at the house sleeping."

"No, it should be open," Rory urged. "Oh, look, see there? The lights are on. It's open! Plus, don't we have special Lorelai/Rory/you're-dating-the-guy privileges?"

"Astute deduction there, Sherlock," Lorelai said, the hunger obvious in her voice. "A Luke's cheeseburger it is!"

"Hurry," Rory said. "He might close on us."

"But what about those privileges?"

"Well, that doesn't mean he's still not _Luke_," Rory reminded her.

"True…"

Lorelai pressed on the gas and pulled up as quickly as she could alongside the diner. The lights were on, but they couldn't see Luke through the windows. She hoped that he was still there.  
"Think about what you want to order and fast!" Lorelai exclaimed to her daughter as she already started running up the pavement.

"You go ahead," Rory said. "I need to get all the change from my purse and get it together so I can use it to pay. I need to get rid of it all and I know how much Luke _loves_ it when I pay in coins."

"Evil, evil girl. Okay, I'll go in first. I'll meet you inside then!" Lorelai sprinted as fast as she could to the door of the diner, her hunger fueling every step she took. She pushed on the door and walked inside. But before she could sit down or even call out Luke's name, she was immediately taken aback by her surroundings.

The diner was still the diner, alright, but it had changed just for tonight. The lights were off but there was still a soft glow in the room she was so familiar with. White paper bags, the ones that Luke used to give his customers for orders to-go, were illuminated with candles inside, all of them lined up perfectly across the perimeter of the room, the counter, and some even on the tables. On one table, there were two clean plates next to silverware and two glasses of wine. On another table, there were random pictures of Rory, Lorelai, and Luke throughout the years that she had never seen before. And near its edge was Luke's cell phone.

"Oh please…" Lorelai whispered to herself, realizing she'd been duped. "Definitely not Lane…"

"Hey."

She turned around. And standing behind her, behind the counter, was Luke. But he didn't seem like Luke in the moment; he was more right now. He was dressed nicely in a button-up shirt that wasn't flannel and in black slacks that weren't jeans. And he had combed his hair so that it wasn't the sight of baseball hat-hair that she had grown used to. He smiled slyly, as though he knew that he had deceived her so well.

"You're sneaky," Lorelai said, still a bit confused. "There was no Lane, was there? You're Lane?"

"Guilty as charged," Luke said, smiling. Even the gruff quality of his voice seemed to have disappeared in the moment.

"What's all this?" Lorelai asked, never one to beat around the bush in moments of confusion. She always wanted to get to the bottom of things.

"Okay, I'll be honest," Luke said, revealing some of his usual insecurity. "I kind of suck at this. I asked April for advice, I asked Rory for advice, and this was still the best I could do and that's mostly because I got a shipment of extra paper bags when I didn't need them. But it was April who thought of the candle ideas and Rory said you would like it and-"

"Luke, honey, you're rambling," Lorelai said, approaching the counter. "And that's coming from me, Queen Ramble. Slow down. Am I missing something?"

"Man, I'm sucking a lot right now, aren't I?" Luke scratched the back of his head. "I should've made Rory come inside…"

"Whatever this is, you can do it on your own," Lorelai reassured him, starting to catch on. She was smiling widely at this point. "Just say what you need to say."

"Geez, Lorelai, I'm trying to be romantic here. I had this entire thing planned out and if I say just anything, then it won't be as romantic."

"Of course it will, Luke. Heck, you could've had burgers and hot dogs here and it would still be romantic."

"You've always been a burger and dog girl," Luke said, looking into her eyes.

"Now see?" Lorelai whispered. "_That's_ perfect enough."

"Burgers and hot dogs? Really?"

"You know a way to a girl's heart, Luke Danes. Now get out from behind that counter."

Luke did as he was told and was happy to do so. He stood in front of Lorelai for a moment as the two looked at each other, almost getting lost in each other's company. Even the aroma coming from the kitchen couldn't distract them from their momentary corner of the world.

"Lorelai…" Luke started.

"Yeah?" She was on the verge of tears.

He bent down on one knee. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly noticed the crowd growing outside the diner window; people had been watching.

"Geez! It's almost ten! Don't people have lives in this stupid town?"

"Just go on! Ignore them!" Lorelai was furiously fighting back tears at this point.

"Okay, okay…Lorelai?"

"Luke?"

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a silver ring with a suitable-sized diamond situated on top. Each of them caught their reflection in the gleam of the metal. Lorelai gasped in wonderment.

"The first time around, you asked me. I think it's only fair that I got my turn."

Lorelai was sobbing and smiling all at once, looking down at Luke holding her hand with one of his, and the other holding the ring.

"Marry me, yeah?"

Lorelai smiled as greater tears fell from her eyes. "Yes!"

Luke slipped the ring on her finger and the undeniable thunder of applause outside could be heard, even though it was muffled by the windows.

He gave her a kiss and then hugged her tightly. Once they pulled apart, he looked at her and said, "I wasn't sure if you were hungry or not, and I forgot that you had Friday night dinner so I almost scrapped the plans for tonight until Rory said that you guys left early. Why?"

"It's a long story," Lorelai told him. "But I'm hungry and that smell from the kitchen and the plates on the table tell me that you've got something planned for me to eat."

"Oh crap, I need to go check on that," Luke said, running back into the kitchen.

Lorelai ignored the people outside the diner that had undoubtedly seen everything as she gazed down at the engagement ring that fit perfectly on her finger. She couldn't even get mad at Luke or Rory for lying to her at this point. It was all perfect.

Outside, Rory had seen everything. In the cold, she appreciated the fact that her mom still found one of the greatest moments of happiness in her life during this one night. She decided she would walk home so that she could give Luke and her mom some well-deserved time alone. Besides, she was tired and she wanted to get to bed as soon as she could.

Just as she was about to start walking home, she heard someone behind her.

"Rory? Can I talk to you?"

She turned around.

It was Dean.

* * *

**AN: **Maybe the engagement seemed rushed, but I kind of wanted to parallel the suddenness of the engagement this time around to the first engagement, when something unfortunate was happening in Lorelai's life and her and Luke managed to fix it with something great. I also wanted to juxtapose the situation between Emily and Lorelai to the engagement so that, in true Gilmore fashion, she could lose it all and gain it all at once. Plus, I really want Rory and Dean to finally get _somewhere_, so that should give you a hint at where the next chapter should be headed towards. Just because there's a wedding to plan now, that doesn't mean that the focus has shifted away from little Baby Gilmore [:


	13. Old Fashioned Donna Reed Tendencies

**LASTING LOVE**:  
Rory is back at home after a year's absence. After a chance meeting with a familiar friend, Rory's future is as uncertain as it ever has been.

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls _does not belong to me. I only write off of it.

* * *

**THIRTEEN: Old-Fashioned Donna Reed Tendencies**

"Rory? Can I talk to you?"

As soon as she saw who was talking to her, Rory got the incredible urge to pick up and run. But at the same time, she felt as though this moment was a long time coming – to delay it any longer would be pointless and, most importantly, stupid.

"Hi, Dean."

"You busy?" he was careful in approaching her. "What just happened here?"

"Uh, I was thinking of walking home right now. Luke just proposed to my mom and she said yes. That would explain the crowd," she said, referring to the other bystanders in the area.

"Oh, wow…congratulations. You said you were going to walk home?" There was a sense of disappointment in his words.

Rory rubbed some of the sleepiness out of her eyes. "No, it's okay. I can talk if you want."

Dean nodded. "Yeah. I think we need to." He gestured to a bench not too far away from them, near the gazebo. The pair walked towards it with a very noticeable space between them.

For a few moments, they sat in silence. Neither one knew exactly what to say. Dean had planned an entire conversation in his head, but just by being around Rory, most of it had dissipated. As for Rory, she felt awkward and knew that until they finally started talking, she would continue to feel this way.

"Uh, did you have any conversation starters?" Rory asked nervously.

Dean laughed, although it was more an expression of fear than it was of humor.

"Honestly? Not really…I thought of all these things but right now all I can think of are fries."

"Fries?"

"French fries. The smell is really strong over here."

Rory smiled. "That's definitely Luke's."

"Yeah…"

_Fries?_ Rory thought. _We're going to have a baby and we're talking about fries._

"Rory?"

"Dean?"

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "What _was_ that at Doose's? You kind of blind-sided me there."

Rory sighed miserably. "I know…I know…god, I'm so stupid."

"No," he said firmly. "You're not."

"I don't know what that was. I wouldn't do that, you know me. But, it felt like…like I just couldn't keep it in anymore. And I wasn't thinking rationally and I really, _really_ needed to tell you. So, if you combined the two…well, that's what happened at Doose's."

Dean nodded as though he understood, although Rory was sure that he didn't. They sat in repeated silence, hoping for some new enlightenment.

"Well…this is awkward," Dean said.

"Yeah, it is. But it's not you…just the situation."

Dean couldn't help but smile. "I've heard that before."

Rory smiled too. "Yeah?"

Dean nodded. "Listen…Rory…I want to be here. I want to be here for you and our baby."

A strange feeling overwhelmed Rory. Although she felt this incredible sense of relief, as though she had heard the words she had been longing to hear and this giant weight had finally left her chest, a new sense of apprehension gripped her. She definitely wanted Dean to be here for the baby; years of seeing her mom raise her alone without the help of Christopher taught her that she wanted a father figure in her baby's life. She saw what it meant to Lorelai to have Christopher there, even if it was a little bit delayed. Rory definitely wanted to have Dean there. But the question was, in what capacity?

She tried to clear her throat to speak, but she failed.

"You don't have to say anything right now," Dean said calmly. "I can only imagine what must be going on in your mind right now, but I hope you believe me when I say all this. I want to be here, I want to help you through the pregnancy, and I'm definitely not going to leave you alone to raise our kid. I'll be here."

"There go your old-fashioned, Donna Reed tendencies again," Rory said breathlessly.

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, there they go."

Rory sighed.

"This is good," she said. "I really want you here. I wouldn't want to deny you a chance to raise your kid. You can be and need to be as involved as you want. I just don't want to force you."

"You're not! You're not forcing me at all. This is what I want." He took Rory's hand into his own, inciting a surprised gasp in her. "And, uh…you're what I want, too, I've decided."

Rory felt like she had the wind knocked out of her. Her hand seemed to be pulsating with a thousand electrical charges in Dean's hand.

"What? What do you mean?"

Dean tried being careful with his words. "Well, we're going to have a baby together, Rory, and I'd be lying if I said that I haven't been thinking about you since that night in Chicago. And I know that you've been thinking about me, too."

"That's a…that's a pretty bold assessment there," Rory said, still feeling palpitations in her chest.

Dean looked slightly offended. "What do you mean? You mean you haven't been thinking of me?"

"No, of course I have!" Rory said, pulling her hand out of Dean's. "How could I not? I've been thinking about you every day. But…I don't know…never what you suggested!"

"You mean the thought of getting back together never crossed your mind?"

"Sorry, but I was too preoccupied with thinking about the baby and how to tell you about it! It's not like I've been pining away for you this entire time. I'm not that girl, Dean!"

"I know you're not that girl, but come on, Rory! You're acting like it's completely unnatural and unheard of! Just because your mom and your dad didn't end up together doesn't mean that we have to end up like that, too!"

"I have to go," Rory sniffled, standing up and walking away as fast as she could.

"Rory!" Dean called after her.

She kept walking, trying her hardest not to stop or look behind her. She didn't know what she felt. She didn't know if she was angry, offended, saddened, flattered…so many different possible emotions flooded her in a manner that kept her from being able to distinguish one from the other. She could hear her heart beating in her head, just as she heard Dean's footsteps catching up with hers.

"Rory!" Dean said again, taking hold of her arm.

"Let go of me, Dean!"

"No, not until we sort this out!"

"We're in the middle of the town square!" Rory exclaimed. "Couldn't think of a more public place to have this conversation?"

"You're the one that walked away, remember? Not me!"

"Dean, let me go home!"

"No, not until you explain to me why it's so crazy that you and I get together!"

"No!" Rory attempted to pull away again, but she couldn't. She didn't know if it was Dean's strong grip or if she just couldn't find it in herself to actually leave.

"Rory, I know that you're not that kind of girl. But I'm telling you right now that aside from the baby, all I've been able to think about is you and me getting back together. And I'm not saying this just because we're going to have a baby. I'm saying this because this is what I was thinking about when I was heading home, long before I even found out you were pregnant! I've been thinking about this ever since Chicago."

Rory started crying. "No, no, no, no, no! Dean, we can't do this!"

Dean was determined. "Rory, you and I both know that we _can_ do this! I can't have you doubting us now!"

"Whatever happened to you being here for me and the baby, no relationship? Whatever happened to that promise?"  
"I never promised that!"'

"Well, it was implied," she said.

Dean sighed. "Look, can we have this conversation somewhere private? I'll walk you home, come on."'

Rory was hesitant at first, but she was so teary-eyed that she admitted to herself that she did need some sense of direction. The two walked silently towards her house with a reasonably large gap in between them.

Once at her house, Dean gestured towards the front porch, where they both sat on the bench outside.

"Rory, just tell me why and I'll drop the subject. I just need to know why you and I can't be together."

Rory shook her head. "I can't."

"Rory, I've never known you to not be able to talk. I know you can do it. Just tell me. I promise I won't get hurt."

Rory sighed miserably. "See? That's just the thing. You _always_ end up hurt! You always get screwed over by me and my stupidity."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean? I'm a horrible person to you! And you're a saint! Have you ever heard of a relationship between a really horrible person and a saint? No!"

"Rory, you have got to tell me what you mean."

"First, it was Jess. I basically _cheated_ on you and treated you like crap. Then after, it was Logan. I was so enamored with the college life that I totally lost sight of the good thing I had going for me! You deserve someone way better. And I deserve…not you! We can't do this again, Dean! I know I'm going to hurt you again, and I won't be able to take that especially now that we're having a baby. I can't hurt you and I won't hurt you if you and I don't get back together."

Dean wrapped his arms around Rory's shoulders, which were heaving heavily now with her sobs. But instead of pulling away, she reciprocated and gripped tightly at his torso, hugging him tightly.

"Rory…you're not going to hurt me."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not. I'm taller than you and stronger than you. You can't possibly hurt me."

"You know what I mean," Rory sniffled.

"Yeah, I do know what you mean, and I'm telling you right now that you couldn't be any more incorrect. You can't hurt me. I'm a big boy, Rory."

"Thank you, cheesy line."

"Well, your weak justification deserved a line as cheesy as that one."

"It's not a weak justification," Rory said. "Just look at our history. It's bound to repeat itself."

"Not if we don't let it," Dean said. "Plus, look where we are now. We're both older, way more mature, and in a place in our lives where we've seen as many distractions as we need to see. Now, we have a baby coming and the best part about this is that we'll be doing it together. It can't go wrong, Rory."

"But-"

"It can't go wrong," he repeated firmly.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I love you," he said simply. "And I'd like to think that you love me, too."

"Of course I do," Rory replied.

"And if I'm correct, history also proves that you and I have a knack for getting back together," Dean informed her. "I'd say that we're a little bit overdue."

Rory sat up and looked him straight in the eye, her expression unreadable but serious.

"Dean…I don't want a broken family. What me and my mom have is an anomaly. It's lucky, and it's unheard of. She's a strong woman and she managed to raise me on her own. We may have the same eyes, but I'm not as strong as her. I can't do this thinking I'm not going into it alone only to find out that I am. This baby deserves more than that."

"You _are_ just as strong as your mom in every way," Dean reassured her. "And there is no way that you're doing this alone. Your mom's here, Lane's here, your grandparents are here, all of Stars Hollow is here for you."

"Yeah…I know."

"And I'm here," he said, kissing her forehead. "This is our adventure, and I'm not letting you have all the fun."

Rory smiled contently. "This is quite possibly the cheesiest, most sentimental, yet most wonderful night I've had in my life."

"Hey, remember the night I told you I loved you?" Dean asked playfully.

"And moment's over," Rory said.

Dean smiled and leaned over to kiss her with as much love, encouragement, and reassurance that he could possibly offer.

* * *

**AN:** So so so so so so so so so sorry for the really really really really late and delayed update. But with so many finals to study for in the last couple months of school and the general need for a sense of relaxation during summer, I got very sidetracked. I really hope you didn't think I'd given up! And just to get back into the mood of writing this story, I've been having a nonstop Gilmore Girls marathon for the past couple weeks. Started off with the latter seasons then went back to season one. I'm on 3 right now, and I have two more seasons until I've finished the entire series (again, and in nonchronological order). Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!


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